SuperSlayerVille 1: Season One
by shadowglove
Summary: xover w/ Supernatural. When Chloe's father moved to Sunnydale he planned on forcing Chloe to have a safe, normal life...course, that's gonna be hard now that she's living on a Hellmouth and has some mysterious psychic connection with its mystic energies.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.**

_I've wanted to do a Slayer/Smallville crossover but have hesitated due to the fact that I wasn't sure whether to make Chloe the slayer or not, and that would change up the storyline completely depending on which story line I went with. In this I decided that Chloe will __**not**__ be the Slayer and Buffy will continue being it. Other than that the characters will be different, and I hope you like my version of season 1 of Buffy!_

**A/N: Don't worry: The Metahuman, The Ranger, and The One Ring is being worked on. But I'm going a little slow on it since I'm working out some details and I didn't want to leave you all without a Chloe crossover so, enjoy!**

Warning: Spoilers for the WHOLE of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 1, starting with the first episode: "WELCOME TO THE HELLMOUTH".

This is a Chloe/Buffy **friendship**, not femmslash

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_In every generation there is a Chosen One._

_She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness._

_She is the Slayer_.

Chloe gasped as she shot up in bed.

She'd been having that nightmare again.

The sixteen year old wiped at the sweat covering her brow as she turned to look out of the window, realizing that it was almost time for her to get up anyway. Today she'd be starting her first day at Sunnydale High, and she was dreading it immensely.

It'd taken her a while and a close friendship with Clark and Pete to be able to get used to Smallville, and then her father had been transferred to the Head of the Sunnydale Luthorcorp facility and she'd been uprooted once more.

At least they were in California this time.

But still, Sunnydale promised to be 'a peaceful and idyllic place to live and raise your family', or so the brochure had claimed. Her father had _jumped_ at the idea, all too happy to get Chloe away from the problems she was getting into at Smallville due to her many reports and investigations of the meteor freaks. Gabe had told her he wanted her to live in a nice, peaceful, _safe_ community where she didn't have to worry about anything but homework.

Chloe was sure she was going to die of boredom in this apparent _utopia_.

Oddly enough though, the few nights she'd spent here in Sunnydale she'd been extremely uneasy, her 'weird-dar' working overtime, and she'd been having the oddest nightmares of girls getting killed and eaten and killing and, _gross_.

And she was always hearing those lines about a Slayer.

It was frustrating.

But she'd also been dreaming about a blonde girl her age when those words were being said, and she was the only consistent person in Chloe's nightmares. The girl was her height with green eyes and blonde hair.

In summary, her description was almost identical to Chloe's.

_How frustrating_.

Getting out of bed, Chloe gazed at the picture of her and Clark and Pete, all hugging and laughing and smiling at the camera.

She missed Clark so _much_.

That wasn't to say she didn't miss Pete, she _did_, but she missed Clark so much _more_. She was _in love_ with her oblivious yet kindhearted lug of a best friend, and it killed her to have had to move away and leave him to _perfect little Lana Lang_.

_All dad's fault. I hate him_.

Bathing, Chloe decided for shredded jeans, a funky retro looking shirt, and grabbed her bag, making sure she had all of her books for the day's classes.

Her phone rang and she smiled as she read the text.

_Missing you already. ---Clark_

Smiling dreamily at the screen, Chloe texted him back that she missed him too, and hurried downstairs to have some breakfast, finishing when her father came down, rushing, because he'd somehow overslept.

Thanks to that she got dropped off to school without the 'try live a normal teenaged life' speech she _knew_ her father had been practicing for the occasion, and took in a deep breath as she surveyed Sunnydale High and the students buzzing all around it.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings, when suddenly she dropped her books in shock.

There, standing not a foot away from her, was the blonde.

The blonde from her nightmares.

The sound attracted the preppy looking girl and she turned to Chloe, giving her a small smile as she came and bent down to help her retrieve her books. "You okay?"

"Uhm, _yeah._" _Weirder things have happened to you, Sullivan, suck it up_. Chloe smiled, taking the books from the girl gratefully. "I'm kinda new here, first day and all, so I'm a little disoriented and dizzy with the crowds. This is _way_ bigger than my last high school."

The girl's eyes widened, and Chloe realized they were more _hazel_ than green. "It's your first day here? No way! It's _my_ first day too! I just transferred from Hemery High in Los Angeles." She struck out her hand. "My name's Buffy Summers."

Chloe smiled and shook the hand, frowning for a split second as an image of an ugly humanoid creature flashed before her eyes but then it was gone and she was smiling again. "Uh, I'm Chloe Sullivan, I transferred from Smallville High, Kansas. Are you heading towards the principle's office?"

"Yeah, you?" Buffy asked, still grinning.

"I'm a bit lost, but that was the plan." Chloe admitted.

Buffy giggled. "This is great, we can find it together or get even more lost together."

"Great idea." Chloe nodded and they began to walk through the crowds of people, feeling even more comfortable now that they'd met each other. The young reporter-to-be felt that weird-dar working overtime, like it used to around Clark, and yet she just smiled.

It wasn't like she wasn't used to weird things.

Hell, she _welcomed_ the weird.

She was the girl with the fricken _wall of weird_.

And she must have dreamt of this Buffy, _met_ this Buffy, for a reason. Maybe she was _meant_ to come here and meet Buffy and maybe it had to do with the nightmares that'd been plaguing Chloe since she'd gotten here.

The two blondes were giggling and laughing like old friends once they finally found Principle Bob Flutie's office, each talking outside while they waited their turn to enter. Chloe went first, and she'd smiled forcedly as the principle gave her the whole 'the past is past' speech and 'we welcome you to our humble school' one as well.

All in all it went well and Chloe decided to wait outside for Buffy to get hers over and done with. The other girl left Principle Flutie's office wincing, which was odd since the guy was overly nice.

"You okay?" Chloe asked, a little concerned. "He wasn't fresh with you or anything, was he?"

Buffy snorted, looking both amused and horrified, making up her nose. "_NO!_ Gross." She turned to Chloe. "Why? Was he fresh with _you_?"

"I don't really ever have that problem, not even perverted old guys ever get fresh with me." And _damn_ if Chloe didn't sound resentful.

Buffy must have caught up on it because she sent her a sideways glance as they began to walk towards their first class. "Really?"

"Yeah." Chloe sighed, looking away, thinking of Clark Kent, who she knew loved her, but didn't really realize that she was a woman with womanly bits and needs.

"Well, then you never met anyone who deserved you." Buffy declared.

Chloe turned to her and grinned. "I think you're going to become my best friend."

Buffy grinned. "_Yay_."

Both giggled.

"Hey! New girls!"

Sharing looks, Chloe and Buffy turned to see two handsome boys coming towards them, and in the hand of the taller one was a _stake_.

Chloe took a cautious step back.

The brunette seemed to notice this and lowered the stake, smiling sheepishly in embarrassment before turning to Buffy. "This fell from your bag."

Buffy looked panicked for a second before she smiled forcefully at him and took the sharpened stake back. "Uhm, _thanks_."

The stake only added another layer to the mystery that was Buffy Summers in Chloe's mind. Visions, dreams, monsters, stakes.

_In every generation there is a chosen one…_

…_Alone…Alone…ALONE!_

That voice returned to Chloe's head so loud she whimpered and her hand shot to her head. She hadn't realized that she'd blacked out until she opened her eyes and found herself lying down on a cot, with Buffy standing over her.

"Wow, you were out for the first couple of classes." Buffy announced, sitting down next to her. "I came by, it being lunch and all, to see if you'd woken up by now. Are you okay? The nurse said she couldn't see anything wrong with you to make you faint but guessed it might be stress and fatigue."

Chloe smiled weakly as she sat up, eyeing Buffy, realizing that this all had something to do with her. "Thanks for checking up on me."

"No need, plus, I come bearing gossip." Buffy grinned, leaning forwards. "So, I already have two people we will have to avoid at all costs."

Chloe blinked, amused. "We have arch nemeses already? How did I miss this?"

Buffy grinned. "Well, one is a girl in our class, Cordelia Chase. She started off nice but then I realized she was Bitchzilla to everyone around her, so, let's not get involved too much in that."

"No problem." Chloe nodded, getting off of the bed and putting back on her shoes. "Who's the other one on the list?"

Buffy made a face and looked away. "The librarian."

"The _librarian_?" Chloe made a face. "What did the librarian do to you?"

Buffy wouldn't meet her gaze. "Let's just leave it as it is and---."

Suddenly screaming could be heard.

Chloe and Buffy's gazes went up and like one they were out of the infirmary and they followed the crowd.

"What happened?" Chloe turned to the person next to her when the way was blocked with too many students trying to get a look themselves. "Does anyone know what happened?"

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker." The person to Chloe's right responded in an excited whisper.

"Dead?" Buffy asked, going tense all over.

"Way dead." The person announced.

"How did he die?" Chloe narrowed her eyes, feeling the weird-dar picking up furiously. "Any odd greenish discolorment of the skin? Where there any marks on his body?"

Buffy's gaze widened and swung on Chloe.

"Morbid much?" The person snorted. "Who _cares_? He's dead and gym's cancelled, what else matters?"

Buffy was silent, giving Chloe an odd, assessing look.

"Nothing to see here, people!" Principle Flutie announced. "Everyone go back to your classes immediately, lunch is over!"

Chloe obeyed for now as she and Buffy went to the infirmary to get her books, and then went to their next class. But Chloe was angsty, fidgety, she needed to get to that body before it was taken away by the police.

She raised her hand, asked to go to the bathroom, and when the teacher said she could she smiled as innocently as she could before racing towards where the map Principle Flutie had given her that morning stated that the P.E. changing rooms were.

Looking around to make sure that no one was watching, Chloe tried the lock, it was shut. Taking in a deep breath she pulled out a metal cord from her bag and went on her knees, working on the lock.

"What are you doing?"

Chloe jumped when she heard that voice and turned to see Buffy behind her. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Following _you_." Buffy announced in that same whispered voice. "Why are you here?"

Chloe was silent as she worked the lock, hearing it click open and smiling as she stood and opened the door. "I need to get a look at that body."

Buffy was silent as she slipped into the room with Chloe, both heading towards where the body on the ground was covered in a blanket.

Chloe didn't hesitate. She went to her knees and pulled the cover off, wincing as she saw the body, white from drainage of blood, and she noticed the bite marks on the side of the victim's throats.

"Oh _great_." Buffy growled, sounding agitated.

"Do you know what did this?" Chloe turned to Buffy.

"Do _you_?" Buffy countered.

Chloe nodded. "Vampires, or well, judging from the amount of bites, _one_ vampire."

Buffy blinked in surprise. "You---you know about vampires?"

Chloe sighed, covering the body once more and standing up. "Remember when I said I was transferred here? Well, where I live there are these meteor rocks that mutates people, and one of the many mutations I had to face to survive there was the vampiric kind. I've seen this before in my school. But this, I don't think this was caused by meteor vampires because those corpses turned green, I think this was caused by _real_ vampires." She sighed, looking away. "This might sound insane to you, but ever since I came to Sunnydale I've been having these _nightmares_…"

Buffy looked up at that, eyes wide. "Nightmares? What kind of nightmares?"

Buffy's reaction surprised Chloe. "Uhm, cemeteries, monsters, vampires---."

"Coffins, undead walking around, a _fugly_ Voldemort looking guy in candles?" Buffy whispered.

Chloe's eyes widened. "How---?"

"We've been having the same dreams." Buffy whispered to herself before shaking her head, a small smile on her face. "I'm not the only one whose been living such a screwed up existence, you've been having the nightmares too. I'm not _alone_ in this."

Alone.

It was that word that kept ringing through Chloe's brain, and she looked up at Buffy. It was now or never. "Have you ever heard of a Slayer?"

Buffy looked surprised. "Yeah, _I'm _a Slayer."

Chloe leaned heavily against one of the lockers. "This is just too freaky, I---I've dreamt of you, you know? That's why I dropped my things when I saw you."

"Really?" Buffy blinked before running her hands through her hair. "This is all seeming very predestined to me. You and I, with our own supernatural/otherwordly experiences happen to transfer to the same school on the same day and meet and become friends the _same day_ a vampire leaves its victim in a locker?"

Chloe looked up. "You think we were meant to work together?"

Buffy smiled sheepishly. "I'm kinda _hoping_ it's what it means." She sighed, smile disappearing. "In Los Angeles a lot of horrible things happened, I even ended up burning down my school gym, and when I came here I promised myself that I wasn't going to be a Slayer, wasn't going to do this all alone. And I _still_ don't want to, but, but maybe some greater power out there heard me and brought me someone to help me so I _wouldn't_ do it alone."

Chloe was silent.

That was placing a _lot_ of responsibilities on her shoulders.

"How would we know?"

"We won't." Buffy announced. "But the Librarian will."

"The librarian?" Chloe asked as Buffy grabbed her hand and began to drag her out of the changing room. "The same one we were going to stay away from?"

"That was when I was sure he was a Watcher and I was trying to pretend I wasn't a Slayer." Buffy mumbled as they strolled through the halls. "Now though, he's going to know what we need to know."

"So you're going to be a Slayer now?" Chloe asked as they neared the doors that had the words LIBRARY written over them.

"_No_, but I want to know what I'm facing." Buffy announced as she let go of Chloe to fling open the doors, storming inside of the library with as much confidence as a supermodel on a runway. "Okay, what's the sitch?" She asked, looking up at a handsome man by the bookshelves.

"Sorry?" He asked, turning to her and closing a book.

Buffy sighed as she walked up the steps to the upper-platform where he was. "You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?"

The librarian turned to Chloe before turning back to Buffy. "Uhm, Miss Summers, I think this conversation would be better---."

"She knows I'm a Slayer." Buffy interrupted him. "Getting back to the topic. We went to see the body ourselves, and it's the weirdest thing. He's got 2 little holes in his neck and there's not a pint of blood in his body anymore."

"The discoloration of the body and the progress of its decomposition hints to the feeding having happened late last night." Chloe interjected, going up the stair with Buffy.

"First," the librarian raised his hand and turned to Buffy. "How could you tell her you were a _Slayer_? It's supposed to be a secret!" He then turned to Chloe, slightly fascinated. "How are you able to tell all that through the discoloration? Were you able to figure anything else out?"

Buffy and Chloe exchanged looks before Chloe opened her mouth. "Well, he wasn't _dragged_ to the locker, there wasn't any sign of wear on his clothes, so obviously that meant that the person who carried him was strong, which we all know was a vampire." She continued on. "And the bite marks were low on the neck, which means we're either dealing with a short male vampire or a female vampire."

Buffy blinked. "You're like a walking encyclopedia of _weird_."

Chloe blushed.

The Librarian blinked. "I'm sorry, who are you again? How do you---? That was----you've never studied at the Watcher's Academy, have you?"

Chloe was confused. "Um, _no."_

"Isn't it odd that _everyone_ seems to have transferred at the same time?" Buffy wanted to know, glaring suspiciously at the librarian. "Me from L.A., Chloe from Kansas, you from being the curator of either _a_ British museum or _The_ British Museum--?"

Chloe's eyes went wide. "You were the curator of _the_ _British Museum_?"

The librarian grinned, chest puffed out, pulling at his lapels proudly. "Yes, well---."

"_People_." Buffy interrupted. "Not the point here. The point is that we're all here, and on Chloe's and my first day a vampire victim arrives and Chloe's dreamt of me."

The librarian blinked, pulling off his glasses and beginning to wipe them. "Excuse me? What sort of dreams?"

"Nightmares, and this guy keeps on going on and on, and then I would see Buffy." Chloe announced.

The man blinked. "You might have some sort of psychic connection to this. How _fascinating_."

Buffy looked from one to the other. "Vampires, anyone?"

"_Right_." The librarian nodded. "I was fearing this would happen."

"Well _I_ wasn't." Buffy announced. "It's my first day. I was afraid that I was gonna be behind in all my classes, that I wouldn't make any friends, or that I'd have last month's hair!" She folded her arms over her chest. "I didn't think there'd be _vampires_ on campus." She pressed forwards. "And I don't care."

The librarian raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you here?"

Buffy faltered. "Uhm, I—uh---to tell you that I don't care---which I _don't, and I have now told you_." She cleared her throat and looked around her. "So…_bye_." She grabbed Chloe's arm and turned around quickly, about to leave.

"Is he—Will he rise again?" The librarian asked.

Buffy twirled around. "Who?"

"The boy."

Chloe froze. She'd forgotten to check the mouth for blood.

"No." Apparently Buffy _had_. "He's just _dead_."

"Can you be sure?" The librarian asked.

Buffy nodded. "To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood, and then you have to suck _their_ blood. It's, like, a whole big sucking thing." She shrugged. "Mostly they're just gonna kill you." She suddenly shook her head. "Why am I still talking to you? Come on Chloe."

She turned and began to drag Chloe down with her.

"You really have no idea what's going on, do you?" The librarian called as he hurried behind them. "You think it's coincidence your being here?"

"_No,_ I think it's a _conspiracy_ to keep me from living a normal life!" Buffy twirled around again.

Chloe jerked her arm out of the Slayer's, tired of getting jerked around.

"Why can't you people just leave me alone?" Buffy asked, agitated.

"Because _you are the Slayer_." The man told her from the stairs. "To each generation a slayer is born----."

Chloe looked up as the words of her dreams were being spoken by the older man. "One girl in all the world, a chosen one."

The librarian and Buffy turned to look at Chloe in surprise.

The blonde brought her hand to her head, feeling that headache coming once more. "One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, demons, and all the forces of darkness, to stop the spread of their evil and protect the innocents who on their own cannot protect themselves."

"How---?" The man asked, taking off his glasses once more.

"The guy, in my dreams, the things he keeps saying over and over again? That's one of them." Chloe admitted, rubbing her temples.

"You said you started getting these dreams since you came to Sunnydale?" He frowned when she nodded. "You have a headache now?"

Chloe nodded.

The librarian looked from Buffy to Chloe, his eyes pensive. "What do you two know about this town?" He asked, going to his desk quickly and rummaging through the books.

"It's two hours on the freeway from Neiman-Marcus." Buffy offered.

Chloe snorted with laughter, then groaned when it made her head hurt more.

"Are you okay? You're not going to faint again, are you?" Buffy sounded genuinely worried as her arm went around Chloe.

It was good too, because Chloe was beginning to feel fatigued again.

"Here, sit down by Mr. Giles' desk." Buffy announced, leading Chloe towards it and helping her sit down.

"Thanks." Chloe whispered.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Giles asked, looking up from a book.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded, hands still on her temples. "What were you saying about Sunnydale?"

"Oh, well, if you dig a bit in the history of this place, and you'll find a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences." Mr. Giles announced.

Chloe snorted. "You could say the same about Smallville."

Mr. Giles jerked a glare at her. "Smallville Kansas? That's where you're from?"

Chloe blinked, surprised at the reaction. "Yeah."

"It's making sense somehow." Mr. Giles announced, chuckling softly, shaking his head. "Do you know why all these weird things happen in Sunnydale? It's because this whole area is a center of mystical energy and things gravitate towards it that you won't find elsewhere. Smallville is quite similar."

Chloe and Buffy exchanged looks.

"Vampires, zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed but told yourself couldn't be by the light of the day." Mr. Giles was watching them both seriously. "They're all real."

"I know." Chloe nodded. "I've had to deal with a couple of those things in Smallville already, but they were all meteor-based."

"Meteor based?" He asked, confused.

Buffy nodded. "Apparently in Smallville there are these funky meteors that mutate the people."

Mr. Giles' eyes went wide. "_Truly_?"

Chloe nodded.

"How _fascinating_." Giles announced. "I will have to inform my peers at the Watcher's Council about this posthaste."

Buffy suddenly interrupted. "Okay, this has all been informative, but let me get this out there. I'm a Vampire Slayer, and I'm retired. You want the big bad vampire dead, you kill her/him yourself."

"I'm a _watcher_." Mr. Giles seemed surprised at the very suggestion. "I don't have the skill."

"Well, all you really need is a stake and a little sunlight." Chloe played the devil's advocate. "And Buffy's got a stake on her right now, she could probably lend it to you if you promised not to get it scratched."

Buffy grinned.

"A Slayer slays," Mr. Giles tried to explain. "A watcher---."

"_Watches_?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, _no_!" Giles closed his eyes and shook his head. "He _trains_ her, he prepares her."

"Prepares me for what?" Buffy wanted to know, attitude rearing up. "For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them?"

_Alone_…

That word run in Chloe's head once more and she but back the whimper of pain.

"Well, already that isn't the case." Mr. Giles announced, pointing to Chloe. "You have a sidekick."

"Let's not put labels." Chloe grumbled.

"And I'm not going to put Chloe in danger!" Buffy seemed horrified at the thought. "I already lost someone I loved to this slaying business, and I'm not about to lose the only friend I have here as well! Come on Chloe, we're _going_."

Chloe only got up because she wanted to get away from the screaming.

She followed Buffy out, and Mr. Giles whispered a _damn_ before hurrying out behind them.

None of them noticed that the moment the doors swung closed two boys, one tall and brunette, the other shorter with sandy blonde hair stepped out from the back aisles where they'd been ditching class and looking at some books. The boys shared a look of shock.

But, of course, Chloe and the others didn't realize this because they were currently out in the hallway.

"It's getting _worse_." Mr. Giles caught up with them and talked softly but urgently.

Buffy would have continued on if Chloe hadn't stopped.

Chloe turned to Giles, worried. "_What's_ getting worse?"

The librarian looked relived that _someone_ was taking this seriously. He moved in closer, lowering his voice even more. "The influx of the undead---the supernatural occurrences. It's been building for years. There's a reason why you're here and a reason why it's _now_."

Buffy didn't look convinced. "The only reason I'm here now is because _now_ is the time my mom moved here."

"And it's a big coincidence that this young lady here moved here at exactly the same time?" Mr. Giles asked, pointing to Chloe. "The same girl who's lived through similar experiences and can help you? Who has been having _prophetic dreams_ about you?"

That made Buffy pause.

"Something's coming. Something is going to happen here." The librarian whispered, urgent. "_Soon_."

"Gee, can you vague that up for me?" Buffy groused.

Chloe rolled her eyes at the Slayer and turned to Giles. "Do you guys have any idea of what's about to happen?"

Giles sighed. "The signs, as far as I can tell, point to a crucial mystical upheaval very soon. Days. Possibly less."

"_Days_?" Chloe whispered. "My dad sent me here because he wanted me to have a normal life and I'm smackdab in the middle of a mystical upheaval of crucial importance?" She shook her head. "Poor dad."

"_Please_." Buffy was trying not to be convinced. "This is _Sunnydale_." She paused. "How bad an evil can there be here?"

Somehow Chloe had a cold, foreboding feeling that Buffy was going to find herself eating those words soon.

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Since Buffy and her had decided to hang out at this club called the Bronze downtown later that night, Chloe had had her father drop her to the outside of the place (he was just too happy that she was going out like a regular girl and not snooping around her meteor freaks to complain about what she was wearing or the place she was going to) and had decided to hang out by the bar until Buffy texted her to let her know that she'd arrived.

Her phone rang, and it surprised her to see the number. She quickly exited the building, making sure to stay close to the front and in the well lit area, before pressing a hand to her other ear and answering the call. "Hey Clark! What are you up to?"

"_Hey Chlo, just calling you since you didn't call me_." He sounded odd. "_I thought, you know, being your first day of school in Sunnydale you'd have called to keep me updated on what it was like---._"

Chloe smiled. "It's okay." _Full of vampires and werewolves and zombies though, apparently_. "I actually made friends already, her name's Buffy and she just transferred in today as well." _Oh, yeah, and she's a Slayer._

There were just so many things she suddenly found she couldn't tell Clark.

It made her sad.

"_Can you turn down the music, I can hardly hear you_." Clark spoke.

"No, I can't. I'm actually outside of a club right now."

"_Oh_." Clark paused. "_What are you doing at a club?_"

"I'm waiting for my friend to show up."

There was a moment's silence. "_Chloe, it's not safe for you to be there alone_…"

"Chloe!"

Chloe turned and saw two familiar boys, one tall and brunette, and the other a little shorter with sandy blonde hair coming towards her. "Have to go Clark, talk to you more tomorrow. Thanks for calling." Hanging up she smiled at the two handsome guys. "Hey, I know you two, you're the ones who found Buffy's stake."

They nodded, smiling.

"Yeah," the sandy-blonde snorted. "Who would have thought that carrying a stake in your handbag was the _rage_ in self-defense thingies in L.A., huh?"

So _that_ was the story Buffy had given them. "I prefer mace myself."

The taller one grinned. "We didn't get to introduce ourselves to you before you, uh, fainted. I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my best friend and brother, Dean Winchester."

"Nice to meet you two." Chloe shook their hands. "Buffy says you took me to the infirmary, so, thanks."

"Are you feeling any better?" Sam asked. "How's your headache?"

She wondered if the fact that she'd had a horrible headache all day had been _that_ noticeable. "Yeah, it's all better now."

"We should probably go in." Dean announced, motioning with his chin to the Bronze. "From what I hear, it's not exactly safe to be out at night in Sunnydale anymore."

_You have __**no**__ idea_.

Chloe followed them inside and discovered that she liked the best friends a lot, she liked their friend Jesse too when they introduced her to him inside. She enjoyed their company, laughing a lot as Sam and Dean quibbled amongst themselves, 'bitch' and 'jerk' flying back and forth.

And then she saw Giles above and paused, excusing herself as she went to the upper floor and found him. "So, I pictured you more as the stay at home type who enjoys a good game of Scrabble."

He jumped, turning to look at her from where he'd been gazing down at the dancing. "I _am_." Giles sighed, returning his gaze to those below. "This is the perfect breeding ground for vampire activity. It's dark, it's crowded…besides, I figured you and Buffy would show up here."

Chloe turned so that she was looking down at the dancers as well. "So anyone down there could be a hungry vamp looking for something to nibble on, huh?"

He nodded, sighing. "I _must_ get Buffy to understand how important it is that she take her job seriously. Lives are at risk, _innocent_ lives."

"_Her_ life is at risk too, you know, and she's only 16." Chloe commented, twirling the straw in her drink. "You have to give the girl some time to come around to it."

"But we mightn't _have_ time."

"You know, I'm kinda getting sick of having you and your associates all around me." Buffy suddenly materialized next to Chloe, glaring at Giles. "I'm thinking about getting a restraining order."

Chloe blinked. "I thought you were going to text me?"

"Stuff happened, plus I saw you guys here the moment I came in." Buffy was talking to Chloe, but glaring at Giles. "What are you doing here?"

Mr. Giles turned to Buffy, sighing. "I am not _stalking_ you, I just need you to understand that---."

"That the harvest is coming," she nodded, folding her arms over her chest. "I know. Your friend told me already."

All color drained from Giles' face. "What did you say?"

That made Buffy blink, not so sure of herself anymore. "The harvest. That mean something to you? Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm not sure…" Giles was looking away, mind working furiously. "Who---who told you this?"

Buffy blinked again. "This guy----dark, gorgeous in an annoying sort of way." She looked concerned all of a sudden. "I figured you two were buds…"

"_No_." Giles shook his head.

_Gorgeous_? Chloe mouthed to Buffy from Giles' side.

_Very_. Buffy mouthed back.

Giles was completely oblivious to this side conversation as he looked up once more. "The harvest. Did he say anything else?"

"Something about the mouth of hell." Buffy made a face. "I _really_ didn't like him."

She turned her back on them and looked at the dancers below.

Giles turned to look at Chloe before clearing his throat and turning to Buffy. "Look at them, throwing themselves about without any idea of the dangers around them."

"Lucky them." Buffy pouted.

"Perhaps you're right." Giles announced. "Perhaps there's no trouble coming, perhaps the signs are all wrong. But then again, you've been having the nightmares." His gaze went from a now stiff Chloe and Buffy. "You _both_ have."

"It's the Slayer in you feeling something's about to happen." He turned to Chloe. "And _you_, I believe your time delving in the occult of Smallville has left you _open_ to its mystical energies so much that you're a channel for it to flow through and that it why you're having these feelings and nightmares as well."

"Wait, I didn't _delve_." Chloe raised her hand. "No delving. Not a delver."

"I had my people at the Watcher's Council investigate you, Miss Sullivan." Giles admitted. "You have impressive amount of information and knowledge, you have been close to this source and your papers, when faxed over I was immersed in your research and the points you were showing and---."

"I was _researched_?" Chloe squeaked before frowning slightly in confusion. "Wait. What papers?" Her eyes widened. "You mean my Torch articles? The Watcher's Council read my _Torch articles_?"

"That's not the point. You two are here at this time for a _reason_." Giles announced firmly. "And you _both_ need to be ready for whatever is going to happen, Buffy especially. There's so much she doesn't know about her adversaries or of her own powers. A vampire appears to be completely normal until the feed is upon them. Only then do they reveal their true demonic visage." He looked down at the dancers once more.

"You're like a textbook with _arms_. I already know this." Buffy looked between Giles and Chloe. "Though, between you two, I won't ever have to study again. Glass half full kinda situation now that I think about it."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

Giles sighed. "The point _is_ the Slayer should be able to see them anyway, the vampires, without looking, without thinking." He paused. "Can _you_ tell me if there's a vampire in this building?"

Chloe turned to look at Buffy expectantly.

"Maybe." The Slayer answered slowly.

"You should _know_." Giles pressed on. "Even through this mass and this din you should be able to sense them. _Try_. Reach out with your mind. You have to _hone_ your senses and focus until the energy washes over you till you---you feel every particle of--."

"There's one." Buffy interrupted, pointing below.

Chloe followed her finger. "Him? Really?"

"Yeah, totally." Buffy nodded, sure.

Giles scoffed. "You don't _know_…"

"Oh _please_." Buffy snorted. "Look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up. And the shirt? Deal with that outfit for a moment."

"It's dated?" Giles asked.

"It's _carbon_ dated." Buffy shot back.

Chloe observed him and frowned. "It _does_ look like something someone from the 70s would have worn."

"See? Chloe _so_ totally gets my drift." Buffy announced. "Trust me, only someone living underground for years would think that _that was still the look_."

Giles pouted. "But you didn't…_hone_."

Chloe bit back a giggle at that pout. It was actually kinda cute.

_Alone_…

Chloe dropped her glass and her hands went to her temples.

Giles and Buffy were grabbing her in seconds.

"Miss Sullivan!"

"Don't faint again! Why are you fainting? Are you _pregnant_?" Buffy was asking.

"I'm not _pregnant_." Chloe grumbled, finally steadying herself on her own. "I'm fine, I am, I---." She looked down. "The vampire and the girl he was talking to are gone."

Buffy and Giles turned to look below, confirming what she had said.

The world beneath her shook and yet she seemed to be the only one who felt it.

_Alone…The harvest…free…_

Chloe tightened her grip on Buffy and Giles' hands, bringing their attention back to her as the whole world seemed to shake vibrate.

_Cemetery…all alone…_

"Hey, Chloe?" She could hear Sam's voice all fuzzy.

"What's going on with her?" Dean could be heard asking.

"Cemetery." Chloe whispered, voice slurring as her knees gave out on her. "_Cemetery_."

"Where's the cemetery?" Buffy seemed to understand what Chloe was saying, and trusted her. "Do you two know where the cemetery is?"

"Yes." Dean nodded.

"Why do you need to go to the cemetery?"

"Just take me there! Now!" Buffy then turned to Giles. "Take care of her!"

And with there they were gone.

But Chloe didn't notice because she was already out cold.

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_And like a plague of boils, the race of man covered the Earth. _

_But on the third day of the newest light will come the harvest,_

_When the blood of men will flow as wine._

_When the Master will walk among them one more,_

_The earth will belong to the Old Ones,_

_And hell itself will come to town._

Chloe gasped as she came to, not knowing what she'd just dreamt of, or why she was in the library of all places, but knowing that that cold sensation she'd had earlier in the pit of her stomach was growing.

Something _very_ bad was about to happen…

…and she didn't think they were ready.

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**Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, Smallville, or Supernatural.

Wanna thank **Growl Snarl, El Neneo, Kit Merlot, Ellyanah, Nindira, TheAttentionJustEncouragesHer, renaid, Shadow Girl, SriHellgirl25, Veronica** and **ChamberlinofMusic** for reviewing the previous chapter.

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Chloe sat down in the library the next day with Buffy, Dean and Sam. They hadn't made it on time the night before. Well, they had, but the vampires had escaped with the two humans.

Yes, _two_.

They hadn't known that Jesse had been taken by the female vampire until it was too late.

So now Dean and Sam were beaten up pretty badly and had only agreed to return home that night when Buffy had promised them that everything was be explained the next day. That was why the four of them were in the library as Giles looked down upon them.

"This world is older than any of you know." He began, twirling a globe as he spoke. "Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth. They made it their home, uh, their _hell_."

Sam winced from where he sat next to Chloe.

"But in time they lost their purchase on this reality." Giles continued, putting away books while he spoke. "And the way was made for mortal animals, for _man_. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain _creatures_."

"And vampires." Buffy announced from where she was sitting on Giles' desk.

"Ok, this is where I have a problem." Dean finally spoke up from where he was leaning against the railing of the staircase. "We're talking about _vampires_."

"Dean, stop living in denial." Sam sighed, tired and obviously hadn't slept at all the night before. "We _saw_ those things last night, okay man? Whether we want to believe it or not, those things exist, and they took _Jesse_."

Dean winced, looked away, sighing, shoulders slumping. "I just---it's just---_vampires…dude_!" He closed his eyes. He ran his hands over his face. "Okay. So vampires. They're demons?"

"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off of a human, mixed their blood." Giles responded. "He was a human form possessed---infected---by the demon's soul." Giles passed Dean one of the books to look through while he continued. "He bit another, and another. And so they walked the earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and for the old ones to return."

"And by animals, he means _us_." Chloe pointed out.

"When Sam and I were ditching class yesterday we heard you three talking, but we thought you were all insane or a part of a role playing game or something." Dean announced, surprising them. "What exactly is a Slayer anyway? Cuz I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the band, which sucks, by the way."

"Slayer doesn't _suck_." Sam growled.

Dean snorted in disbelief.

This seemed to be an old issue between them.

"All you need to know about Slayers is that Buffy is one, you can't tell anyone about it, and she hunts vampires." Giles ignored the brothers' spat.

"You're forgetting one thing old man," Dean announced, closing the book in his hands. "How do I kill one? A vampire I mean."

"You _don't_." Buffy interrupted. "_I_ do."

"Look," Dean turned on Buffy, eyes narrowed. "Jesse is _my_ friend, and they took him. So either I'm going to go in and save him without any knowledge on how that's actually done or I'm going to go in and save him _with_ knowledge. It all depends on you."

Buffy stood up, eyes narrowed. "Listen tough guy, it's _my job_ to rescue him. _I'm_ the Slayer."

"So I've been hearing." Dean grumbled. "Doesn't make any difference to me though. I'm going, whether the _Slayer_ wants me to or not."

"You wouldn't be able to if I snapped your leg." Buffy threatened.

"_Buffy_." Giles warned. "Slayers don't threaten civilians, they _protect_ them."

"I _am_ protecting him." Buffy snapped, glaring still at Dean. "If he can't walk he can't go to the suicide mission."

"Oh just _try_ it blondie." Dean snapped right back, clenching his fists, the muscles in his arms flexing dangerously. "I _dare_ you."

In a second Chloe was up and standing between them, one hand on Buffy's shoulder and the other on Dean's chest. "The longer you two fight amongst yourselves the less chance we have at finding Jesse and the girl taken along with him alive."

"You think they're alive still?" Sam asked, hopeful.

Chloe nodded. "Buffy said that the big vampire she fought with, Luke, was talking about an offering to the Master. We don't know who or what this Master is, but if this isn't just feeding then Jesse and the girl may very well still be alive." She turned her glare on both Buffy and Dean. "And your squabbles aren't helping their chances at _staying_ that way."

Buffy and Dean backed down at the same time, looking away, both seeming ashamed.

"Are you sure you have _no_ idea where they would have taken Jesse?" Giles asked Buffy.

The Slayer ran her fingers through her hair. "I looked around, but as soon as they got clear of the graveyard they could have just…_voom_."

Sam blinked. "They can _fly_?"

"They can _drive_." Chloe clarified.

"_Oh_." Sam ducked his gaze, blushing in embarrassment.

Dean shook his head. "I don't remember hearing a car."

Giles took in a deep breath, hands on his hips. "Lets take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground."

"The vampires I had to deal with back in Smallville used to use sewer systems to get from one place to the other during the day, and sometimes also during the night because it made crossing around town easier." Chloe nodded in agreement.

"But I didn't see any access around there." Buffy frowned.

Dean thought for a second before looking up. "Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town."

"If we had a diagnostic of the entire tunnel it might indicate a meeting place." Giles ventured. "I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We don't have time for that." Chloe shook her head.

There was silence as everyone hit a dead end on what to do.

"Uh, guys?" Sam cleared his throat. "There might be another way."

"What other way?" Giles asked, looking up in intrigue.

Sam nodded towards Chloe's computer bag. "May I?"

Chloe nodded, pushing it towards him across the counter.

Sam smiled and pulled out the white Mac laptop and started it. He was silent as the machine started, the large picture of Chloe kissing Clark's cheek and both grinning appearing as the background of her desktop.

"Who's _he_?" Buffy asked, giving a little _meow_.

Chloe scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "He's my best friend back in Smallville, Clark."

The picture disappeared thankfully as Sam accessed the internet and began to type codes, entering certain web pages, and suddenly they were into the Sunnydale database.

Chloe's eyes widened and she grinned, realizing _just_ how good a hacker she had in front of her.

A map came up on the screen of the tunnel.

"There it is." Buffy announced, tapping the screen.

"It runs under the graveyard." Sam agreed, typing some codes and enlarging it until it stretched to fit the screen.

"I don't see any access." Dean frowned, leaning over his brother and looking at the screen intently.

"It's there alright." Chloe murmured, leaning over Sam's other side. "We just have to find it."

"So all the city plans are just open to the public?" Giles asked from behind them, intrigued and confused.

"Um, well, in a _way_." Sam was suddenly blushing. "I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council security's system."

Dean snorted. "My brother, the Super Dork."

"Jerk." Sam grumbled.

"Bitch." Dean grinned.

Chloe looked from one to the other with amusement.

Buffy, though, wasn't amused. "There's nothing here. This is _useless_." Pushing away from the desk she growled and turned her back on them, walking away.

"I think you're being a bit hard on yourself." Giles announced slowly.

Buffy turned on him. "You're the one that told me I wasn't prepared enough!" She shook her head. "That was the understatement of the season! I thought I was on top of everything and then that monster Luke came out of nowhere and I didn't even see him! I was facing the front of the mausoleum and I didn't even see him coming in until he grabbed me from behind! I'm just so useless and--."

Chloe suddenly frowned. "He grabbed you from behind?"

Everyone turned to look at her.

Buffy frowned slightly. "Yeah. I don't know how he slipped by me. I _should _have been able to see him if he'd come through the entrance---."

"And what happened to him after your fight? Did he run out the entrance?" Chloe asked.

Buffy pouted for a second, obviously trying to remember, before shaking her head. "No, it's like he disappeared again. The guy has got to be extremely fast, even for a vampire."

"Or he didn't leave the mausoleum." Chloe whispered.

Buffy's frown darkened. "No, I would have seen him there. He had to have---."

"Isn't this the same mausoleum where Jesse and the girl were taken?" Chloe suddenly asked, interrupting the Slayer.

"Yeah." Sam answered.

Chloe grinned.

"Share the secret, gorgeous." Dean finally asked as everyone looked at her oddly.

"Don't you guys get it?" Chloe asked, looking at them, smile still in place. "Luke didn't just disappear and reappear, the vampires didn't just take those students there to show them the inside. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum, it has to be, there's no other explanation."

Sam's eyes widened. "It makes sense."

"So what's the plan, Slayer?" Dean wanted to know, reaching for the leather jacket he'd left resting on the back of Sam's seat and pulling it on.

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "I go, I save, you stay."

"You _retarded_." Dean retorted. "Now, look. I know you're the Slayer and I'm not and this is your _duty_, but you're not getting out of this. I know where the entrance is. I'm going whether you like it or not."

Buffy turned to the librarian. "_Giles_!"

Dean snorted. "If the _Slayer_ can't stop me you think a _Watcher_ will be able to?" He gave the librarian a look. "No offense, England, but I could take you out in a second and you wouldn't know what hit you."

"None taken." Giles assured Dean.

Buffy sighed.

Sam stood. "Dean and I are going with you whether you want us to or not. This is a job for you, but it's a thing of honor for us. Jesse has been our friend since the first grade, and we're _going_."

Buffy looked from Dean to Sam and back before shooting a look in Chloe's direction. "_Chloe_!"

"I don't think you're going to win this." Chloe shrugged.

Buffy pouted before glaring at the two boys. "You get eaten, it's all your fault."

They nodded.

"I want to help without having to go to some dark dank vampire lair." Chloe piped up, earning her a grin from everyone present.

"Finally, _someone_ with some common sense." Buffy exclaimed.

"How are you with this thing?" Giles as Chloe, pointing to her computer.

She smirked. "Not as good as Hacker Boy, but I've been known as Research Girl in my day."

"Good, you can help me." Giles announced, sitting down next to her. "I've been researching this _Harvest_ affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre---rivers of blood, hell on Earth. Quite charmless."

"I can imagine." The blonde murmured.

"I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details." Giles continued. "It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine."

Everyone looked at Giles.

Chloe giggled. "I think I can handle it."

"Good." He nodded, turning to the others. "The chest over there, there are stakes, you will need them."

"Not me, have my own." Buffy pulled hers from her bag.

Dean and Sam however, went to the chest and took their own, looking extremely nervous and pale, but determined.

On instinct Chloe got up and hugged Sam, and then Dean, ending with Buffy. She smiled and pulled away. "You three take care, okay?"

Buffy smiled, Sam blushed, and Dean smirked.

They then left.

Chloe sighed, watching them until they were out of sight, before turning to Giles. "They'll be okay, right?"

He sighed, watching the doorway they'd disappeared to. "_God_ I hope so."

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Chloe had skipped her next classes.

It was her second day at school and she was already skipping classes.

_I'm going to be expelled by the end of the week_.

But somehow, a potential massacre seemed higher on her list of priorities than Chem and Geography, so she didn't feel too guilty about it.

Her phone beeped.

Chloe looked down at it and flipped the lid, smiling when she saw Clark's name.

_Hey, how are you doing?_

She entered a response. **Studying in the library, how about you?**

_Mr. Mannings is drunk, sleeping at his desk again, so we can mess around. Pete says hi._

**One day he's going to get caught and fired****.**

_Yeah…I miss you, Chlo_.

She smiled softly, fighting a blush. **I miss you too, Clark. So very much****.**

_So how is the boringly idyllic life in Sunnydale?_

Chloe snorted. **Well, let's just say I haven't been bored since I started school. How about you? How's Smallville?**

_Actually, we're having some problems. I've been trying to solve it with Pete but we're no good without you, Chlo. Could we send you the information after school and you look over it and give us your opinions?_

**I'm not there anymore and you two can't survive without me (smug grin). Sure, send it, I'll find time.**

Her eyes still browsing the books, Chloe froze when that green gaze fell upon a sentence. "For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life."

Chloe paused, wishing Giles hadn't left to go see Principal Flutie, who'd called him to his office.

"Pours life." Chloe had lived in Smallville long enough to know that at a harvest things were _gathered_, and while she didn't have any concrete evidence, this was speaking to her, telling her to pay attention, that this was _it_.

She turned the page back to the drawing she hadn't paid much attention to before, to the picture of Satan (or something that resembled Satan) feeding power to a man.

"Pours life." She repeated, reading the words beneath the drawing. "On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come…"Frowning, she turned to her laptop and began typing in codes viciously, checking lunar cycles and solstices, before the answer to her questions appeared, her eyes widening in horror. "It's _tonight_."

_I have to find Giles!_

Standing up rapidly, Chloe hurried out of the library in time for the bell to ring the end of school and students to flow out rapidly into the halls, blocking her way.

_Hurry up! Get out of my way!_

"And can that girl Buffy be _any_ weirder?" A pretty brunette in front of Chloe was asking her acolytes, sneering. "I saw her at the Bronze, dressing _completely_ ridiculous, with this big, pointy wooden stick---_so_ harsh looking it must leave her hands all ickily covered in blisters---running out towards the cemetery with Sam and _Dean_."

"Oh my _god_." The blonde to her right whispered. "_Really_?"

"Totally." The brunette ringleader nodded, her tone acid now, as if Buffy had insulted her personally. "And to think we wanted that _skank_ in our group."

"What's her deal?" A redhead wanted to know, horrified. "I mean, I know Dean Winchester is like the _totally_ the best looking guy in school---why _else_ would you have gone out with him so long?---but to be such a slut as to take him and his brother on at the same time in the _cemetery_ and with _sex_ toys?"

"Well, she's obviously _crazed_." The brunette decided. "Dean doesn't realize what he's getting into with that tart. She's obviously more than she's letting on."

"And obviously delinquent." The blonde announced, surprised at the confused expressions on her friends' faces. "Didn't you hear about her old school?

"No!" The brunette exclaimed. "Dish!"

The blonde smirked. "_Booted_."

The brunette snorted, shaking her head. "Well, I exhibit no surprise."

"Why'd she get the boot?" The redhead wanted to know.

"Obviously because she's a big skank." The brunette sneered.

Having heard enough, Chloe reached out and grabbed the brunettes' arm, the surprise swinging the girl around with a squeal, attracting the attention of everyone in the hall. "Take that back."

The girl's eyes widened. "How _dare_ you? Let _go_ of me!"

"And how dare _you_ talk about Buffy when you don't know anything about her yourself?" Chloe wanted to know, letting go of her hold on the girl. Buffy was out there risking her life and these skanks had no right to badmouth her.

"Do I horn in on _your_ private discussions?" The brunette sneered. "No. Why? Because you are _so_ nobody I don't even know who you are."

Her friends sniggered.

"Is that the best you can do, Prickly Priscilla?" Chloe asked. Somehow, trying going up against meteor freaks intent on killing you every week tended to make her thick-skinned when it came to ordinary bullying.

The three girls looked shocked that she wasn't at all affected.

"Now, I _know_ that Sunnydale is a little place with not much to do than go to school, the Bronze, and try make yourselves feel better by putting down other girls, but I really think you three should grow up." Chloe announced, eyes narrowed, completely worked up by the situation and probably taking out her frustration out on them unfairly. "Buffy's a great girl, she's nothing like you were making her sound, and I'm sorry that the three of you are so insecure when it comes to yourself that the only way of reaffirming you queenship and stuff is to put others down."

"Now wait just one second!" The blonde screeched.

"Okay, and the second has just passed." Chloe continued on, the blonde blinking in confusion, chuckles of amusement circulating those watching. "And what makes you the queens of the school anyway? If it's because you're beautiful and perfect looking, well, you'd have to be after all your surgeries. It's not natural, it's as fake as you are. _Your_ nose and lips are done." She pointed to the blonde, who gasped and covered those features immediately. "No one's boobs are _that_ perky naturally, and they're completely out of proportion with your body." She told the suddenly blushing redhead. "Even _Pamela Anderson_ had to do a reduction, that should tell you that breasts bigger than the rest of your body aren't exactly in style anymore."

"Now listen _here_!" The brunette announced as the redhead was feeling her own breasts and the blonde had pulled out her compact mirror and was looking at her nose worriedly.

"No, not interested." Chloe decided. "And _you_. How are _you_ the ringleader? Miss last season shoes and wardrobe that makes you look like Martha Steward's personal hooker?"

The brunette's eyes widened in horror as the chuckles were louder. "These are _so_ not last season!"

"Really?" Chloe herself knew nothing about fashion, but she'd learnt enough from Lana. "Everyone! I'm giving you homework." She then gave them the name of the catalog and the date to look up the shoes the brunette was wearing. "I want printouts of the shoes for tomorrow!"

"Yes ma'am!" A couple of boys called out laughing.

The girls, who had all obviously been bullied by the brunette and her friends, were sneering meanly at the trio.

"Now if you excuse me, I have more important things to do now than let your insecurity issues take up more of my time." And with that she walked away, to the cheering of the people and the outrages screams of the trio.

She realized that she'd just declared war on the three Elite of Sunnydale, but considering everyone might die in a demonic sacrifice tonight that didn't really scare her as much as it should.

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After finding Giles and filling him in on her hunch, they'd both headed back to the library and studied the text, finding the books it referenced, and doing more in-depth studies. The information they uncovered left them cold, and as they waited for Buffy, Dean, Sam (and hopefully the two taken) to return, they kept reading, kept realizing in just how much shit they found themselves.

Hearing the door open, Chloe looked up from the volume she was reading, her heart skipping a beat as she saw Buffy, Dean and Sam returning, looking bruised and pale but alive.

"Did you find them?" Chloe asked, standing up yet not moving towards them.

"Yeah." Dean whispered, head bent, dropping his stake.

"Were they dead?" Chloe asked softly.

"She was." Buffy responded, sitting at the end of the table. "They'd turned Jesse. They knew we would come for him and they planted a trap for us. We barely made it out alive."

"I'm so sorry." Chloe told the boys.

Sam nodded silently, sitting down on the chair, stake still firmly held in his hand.

Dean growled and violently kicked a wastebasket, startling everyone. "Those bastards! I'm going to kill every single one of them! Jesse didn't deserve that! He didn't!"

Chloe wanted to go and hug him and Sam as well, both looked so broken, but she knew they needed their space, needed to mourn, so she left them alone.

Buffy sighed and turned to Giles. "So, Giles. Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

Giles sent Chloe a look before clearing his throat. "How about the end of the world?"

The Slayer made a face. "Knew I could count on you."

Giles waited until everyone was looking at him, a sad Sam and determined Dean as well, before beginning. "This is what we know. Some sixty years ago a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

"It was because of this town's mystical energy, it draws all supernatural and stuff towards it." Chloe added.

"Quite." Giles nodded his agreement. "The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated into the word 'Hellmouth'."

"That doesn't sound good." Sam announced.

"And the choir says _amen_." Dean took the seat next to his brother.

Chloe admired how well they were taking this situation. They'd just lost a friend who they'd risked their lives for. "It's a sort of portal between this reality and the next." She explained, giving Giles a couple of minutes respite. This situation had shaken him up quite a bit. "This vampire hopes to open it."

"He wants to open up the portal." Sam blinked.

"To bring the demons back." Buffy blinked.

"And End the world." Dean finished.

Thank god they all understood the gravity of the situation without much explaining.

"But the thing of the matter is that he blew it. Well, not him per se, but there was an earthquake that swallowed half of the town, and him, too." Chloe announced. "According to the volumes we've been pouring over, opening a dimensional portal is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, like a, uh, cork in a bottle."

"And the Harvest thing is to get him out." Dean guessed.

Chloe nodded.

Giles cleared his throat. "It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while he feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He drew a three-pointed star on the notebook Chloe had been scribbling down things on earlier.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest." Buffy concluded.

Giles nodded. "Simply put, yes."

"Okay, good." Buffy announced, getting off of the table and placing her hands on her hips. "Any idea where this little get-together is being held?"

Giles frowned. "Well, there, there are a number of possibilities."

Dean shook his head. "They're going to the Bronze."

"You can't be sure of that." Buffy countered.

"No, Dean's right." Sam stood, eyes narrowed. "All those tasty young morsels all over the place? It'd be too much of a temptation to pass over for the bloodsuckers."

"And Giles _did_ say last night that it was the perfect feeding ground for vampires." Chloe nodded, taking the boys' side on this one.

Buffy pouted slightly.

"Anyway," Dean announced, looking at the Slayer. "That's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me."

Giles didn't wait for the destination to be approved by the Slayer. He grabbed his coat and headed towards his chest, grabbing a stake and passing it to Chloe, while also giving them crucifixes and bottles of holy water.

"Holy water, _really_?" Dean asked, making a face.

Sam looked over the crucifix before shrugging and putting it on.

Chloe took in a deep breath and put on her own, tightening her hold on her stake and wincing when she got a splinter.

_I SO wasn't made for this_.

"Let's go." Giles announced after they were all as prepared as they could be, heading out of the library. "We have to hurry, the sun's going down as we speak."

By the time they reached the Bronze it was night and the entranced was locked.

"We're too late!" Giles cried out, horrified.

"How about using this supposed Slayer Strength you keep bragging about and kicking down the door?" Dean wanted to know.

Buffy made a face at him. "I can't kick that thing down." She ran her hand through her hair before blinking. "Um…you guys try the back entrance, Chloe and I will continue looking around here."

"Right." Giles nodded. "Come on boys." And with that the three of them headed around back.

Chloe opened her mouth to ask Buffy what she was planning on doing that involved the boys being far away when suddenly the earth beneath her and only her shook so that she crumbled to her knees.

Images flittered through her head of that horrible monster, who she now knew was the Master, testing his confines. The images were then of a huge vampire with the three-point start on its forehead feeding off of a girl inside of the Bronze, and then back to the Master.

_Almost free_!

She felt her body heave as she vomited.

"_Chloe!_ Are you alright?" Buffy knelt by her side. "What happened?"

"He's feeding, and strengthening the master." Chloe whispered, trying to clear her mind. "I can _feel_ it, _see_ it."

Buffy frowned. "_Why_? Why are you so sensitive to the mystical energies of this place that you get sneak peeks?"

"I don't know." Chloe groaned as Buffy helped her to her feet. "So, what's the plan to get inside?"

"See that window up there?" Buffy asked, pointing to a window _way_ above. "I can climb up there, and you can ride my back."

Chloe smirked. "I'm kinda seeing why you didn't want the boys around."

Buffy smirked back. "_Exactly_." She gave Chloe her back. "Come on, get on."

Climbing up Buffy's back and tightening her hold around her neck, Chloe was surprised at just how strong Buffy was. She carried her as if she didn't weigh a thing, and then they were climbing something that Chloe couldn't believe was climbable, and with her free fist Buffy broke open the upper window and allowed Chloe to crawl in first before doing so herself.

"I feel the Master's strength growing!" A voice below reverberated.

The blondes exchanged looks before going to the railing and looking down below at the gigantic vampire standing on the stage, bodies all around him.

"That's the Vessel." Chloe whispered. "That's the one I saw."

"That's the vampire I fought." Buffy whispered back. "Luke."

"I feel him rising." Luke announced. "Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

Sensing something to their left, Chloe turned in time to see a vampire patrolling the upper level see Buffy and her, and growl. "_Buffy_?"

Buffy turned to the vampire and grumbled under her breath before going towards him, both beginning to fight.

Despite the fact that Buffy was fighting with a vampire at the moment, Chloe found her attention drawn to down below, fighting the slight dizziness she felt.

She needed to get control over this---over whatever this was.

"Tonight is his ascension." Luke continued, completely unaware to the fact that the Slayer was fighting one of his men above his head. "Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy!" None of the horrified humans within stirred in the crowd. "What? No volunteers?"

A blonde female vampire stepped onto the stage, carrying the struggling brunette Chloe had argued with that day (whom she'd later had been told was Cordelia Chase) with her. "Here's a pretty one."

Cordelia screamed when she saw Luke up close, saw his demon's deformed face. The creature caressed her face before leaning down, about to bite her, when Buffy kicked the vampire she'd been fighting down from above them, capturing everyone's attention.

Luke watched the vampire land with a thud before looking up and his gaze connected with Chloe's before moving to Buffy as the Slayer approached the railing.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Buffy announced in mock worry. "Were you in the middle of something?"

"_You_!" Luke growled.

"You didn't think I'd miss this, did you?" Buffy snarked.

He sneered. "I hoped you'd come."

"_Awwww. _Someone sounds like he has a _crush_." Buffy announced in a mock-taunt stepping onto the railing.

"Be careful, Buffy." Chloe whispered.

Buffy grinned and nodded before executing a roundoff to get down, landing on a pool table. A vampire immediately attacked her from her right but Buffy did a front walkover off of the table, grabbed a pool cue on the way, and when she landed she thrust it into her attacker.

The vampire gave a scream and exploded into dust as it began to fall to its knees.

"Okay, Vessel boy." Buffy turned to Luke, removing her jacket. "You want blood?"

Chloe groaned at the Slayer taunting a vampire that way.

"I want yours!" Luke growled, releasing Cordelia and throwing her away. "Only yours!"

Buffy batted her eyelashes at him. "I think we're still a little too early into this relationship to be talking about commitment."

And then the fight began.

Chloe couldn't concentrate on the fighting since her position had been betrayed and there were vampires hurrying up to where she was, but thankfully there was a loud breaking sound from the back of the Bronze, alerting the vampires all around them to the fact that the door had been broken into.

"Hurry!" Giles could be heard telling the people, who were now racing towards the exit.

Dean and Sam ran in, and although they had no true training, their stakes were plunging and there were screams as vampires went up into dust and ashes.

The vampires on the railing turned to look down at the brothers fight, and then up at Chloe, and down again, before deciding that the two human boys were more of a danger at the moment and needed to be taken care of.

"Hurry up! Come on!" Giles was ushering the people out. "Through this door! Come on! This way!"

Chloe made her way down below, not sure what to do, knowing she wasn't a warrior. She was trembling, terrified, so ashamed that she was only being a burden to her teammates.

Not even the vampires were taking her seriously.

"Stop it! No! Let me go!" Cordelia's scream reached Chloe.

The blonde looked up to see the vampire form of Jesse pinning the brunette to the floor, face demonic, fangs drawn, trying to bite her. The girl beneath him struggled and he grabbed her arms.

"Hold still!" He hissed. "You're not making this easy!"

Chloe doubted she could reach them on time, and didn't think she'd be of much good anyway, so she looked around and noticed one of the balls on the pool table. Grabbing it she prayed she proved to have a better aim than she did in P.E. and threw the ball.

It resounded with a deafening _crack_ as it made contact with the back of Jesse's head.

"FUCK!" The vampire growled, hand to his head, looking around. "Who did that?!?"

Chloe gulped as his eyes met hers.

"You're dead meat!" He hissed, getting up and hurrying after her.

Chloe didn't even think.

She didn't stop to consider.

She just turned around and started darting back up the stairs, heart bursting in horror and terror as she heard him hurrying up behind her.

_I'm going to die---I'm going to die_.

Back in Smallville Clark would always show up and save her life at the last moment, but she didn't have that anymore.

_I'm going to die!_

"You're trapped." Jesse sneered, not the happy-go-lucky and somewhat geeky boy she'd met through Dean and Sam.

He was evil wearing skin.

"There's no where you can go." He taunted, coming towards her.

Chloe looked down at the flask of holy water in her pocket and pulled it out quickly. Taking off the cover she sprayed it on him and Jesse screamed as soon as the water hit him, steam rising off of his skin as if she'd thrown _acid_ on him.

"You bitch!" He screamed, clawing at his own face, fury radiating form his body. "I'm going to make you _beg_ for death!"

Chloe, noticing the broken window she'd gotten in through, hurried towards it and without even thinking threw herself out of it.

Anything but the torture she'd get by the hands of Dean and Sam's best friend.

Screaming at the world whooshed towards her at a sickeningly rapid speed, Chloe closed her eyes and her breath was forced out of her body violently when she made contact with something, but it wasn't the asphalt of the street.

"Are you okay?"

Trembling, Chloe opened her eyes to see worried brown eyes looking down at her.

A _guy _had caught her before she'd hit the ground. "Y—yeah."

"What were you thinking? Throwing yourself out of the window?" The handsome young man asked angrily.

"It was either that or being vampire meat!" Chloe snapped back.

He looked surprised at her anger so soon after her terror, then he grinned. "Feisty. Can you stand?"

She nodded, though she was shaky on her feet. "Thank you."

"The Slayer should take better care of her friends." He announced with a frown. "And what Slayer has ever had people helping her anyway?"

Chloe's eyes widened at the disapproval and in the split second she wondered who the hell he was and how he knew Buffy was a Slayer---that's when she figured out who he was.

_Tall, dark, annoyingly handsome_. "_You're_ the guy who told Buffy about the Harvest!" She frowned. "What are you doing here?"

He was silent for a moment before watching as people raced away from the Bronze. "Coming to see how things ended."

Chloe opened her mouth to tell him off for just being so cryptic and not helping them when the ground around her shook once more, and she would have fallen to her feet had the man not grabbed her, wincing as he did so as if he'd been given an electric shock.

Chloe tried to gasp in breath but found she couldn't as her eyes glazed over and suddenly she was seeing something completely different from the alleyway next to the Bronze.

_Buffy grabbed a microphone stand and held it like a javelin._

_Luke sneered. "You forget, metal can't hurt me."_

_Buffy sneered back. "There's something you forgot about too. Sunrise!" With that she threw the stand at the window behind Luke. He ducked and it broke the window, a bright light pouring in through._

_Buffy spied the stake she'd dropped on the stake and picked it up._

_Luke got up and shielded his face with his hands, expecting to be burnt, but stopped when he realized that the light coming in was only from a bright lamp outside._

_Buffy lunged at him from behind and jammed the stake home before getting off, sneering. "It's in about nine hours, moron!"_

_Luke staggered off of the stage._

_**Deep within the bowels of the earth, the Master tested the strength of his confines.**_

_Luke continued to stagger._

_**The Master continued to test, impatient, wishing to be released. How much longer?**_

_Luke fell from the stage and exploded into ash and dust._

_**The Master felt Luke's death the minute it happened, and he fell to his kness. "Noooooo! Nooooo!**_"

"She did it." Her rescuer's soft, awed voice broke the spell and Chloe's eyes unglazed. "I'll be damned."

Chloe then looked up at the young man. "You saw it too?"

He nodded, face solemn, arms still around her keeping her standing. "What are you?"

"_Human_?" She whispered back.

He continued to watch her in silence before speaking carefully. "Can you stand on your own now?"

Chloe nodded, the dizziness was completely gone. "Thank you."

He nodded, watching her oddly, before shaking his head and turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Chloe called after him.

"I have things to do." He responded, stopping but not turning to look at her.

Chloe made a face. "What's your name? Buffy and I can't keep calling you: 'The Handsome But Annoying One' forever."

He was silent for a second before he was suddenly chuckling and looking over his shoulder at her. "Angel."

_That's_ _a pretty name_.

But she wouldn't say something so corny out loud, so she just watched him until he disappeared around the corner, and she was still looking when a hand came down on her shoulder ten minutes later, scaring her into a scream.

"Chloe! Calm down! It's me!"

Chloe looked up at Dean and brought a hand to her heart. "I'm sorry, I--."

"How are you okay?" He whispered, looking at her, worried. "I---I saw Jesse come after you, I tried to work my way up to where you were but I got there in time to see you jump out of the window!"

"What happened to Jesse?" Chloe asked, feeling a worried feeling in her stomach.

Dean looked away, sadness in his eyes. "I tried to reason with him, tried to get him to see that just because he was a vampire didn't mean he had to be a monster, but he wouldn't listen. Giles was right. He wasn't Jesse anymore. He---I---it was self-defense."

Heart breaking over the pain in Dean's voice, Chloe pulled him into a tight hug, feeling tears fog her vision as he held onto her tightly, obviously trying his best not to break down and cry. "I'm so sorry, Dean. _So_ sorry."

"_Me too_." He whispered before giving her a little squeeze and pulling away, wiping at his eyes and sniffling.

"Chloe!" Buffy could be heard, and in seconds she was hugging the blonde. "Where were you? I got so worried! Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Chloe smiled, hugging Buffy before pulling away and seeing Giles and Sam smiling at them.

"It's over." Giles took in a deep, satisfied breath.

"We won." Sam nodded, cut and bruised but smiling.

Even Dean was smiling by now.

"We averted the Apocalypse." Buffy flung her arm around Chloe's shoulders. "I give us points for that."

"We should probably head home." Giles announced. "Your parents will all be in fits at the fact that you're all out late into the night."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. "Our dad won't notice. He's not in town."

Buffy winced. "My mom won't like it at all."

Chloe turned to the Slayer. "You could tell her you forgot to tell her you'd sleep over at my place. My dad's used to me being out late at school, and he'll be happy for me to do something _normal_ like having a sleepover."

Buffy grinned. "Girl time! I love it!"

"Well, it's settled then." Giles announced. "Let's go, we all have school tomorrow."

With a collective groan at that thought, the fivesome walked together into the shadows.

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Somehow Chloe wasn't surprised that the next day everything seemed normal in school. She'd spent the rest of the night of the Harvest with Buffy going over the information Clark had sent her about the newest things happening in Smallville, and she'd concluded that they had a meteor mutant who could steal the body out of people and due to the victims she'd even sent Clark possible suspects.

Other than that she really couldn't help him.

The girls had then talked about Angel, both deciding that even though they had his name they'd still call him the Handsome Annoying One, and then went to sleep and were now walking the halls of Sunnydale High.

Chloe turned as she heard Cordelia's voice, talking to a girl she'd never seen before. "Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

The girl she was talking to sighed. "I wish I'd been there!"

Cordelia nodded. "You should have been there. It was _so_ creepy."

She then seemed to notice Chloe and Buffy, and she shocked Chloe by giving her a small, thankful smile, before walking away with her friend.

"What was that all about?" Buffy wanted to know.

Chloe just shrugged, smiling.

Buffy didn't have time to question further since Giles, Dean and Sam met up with them, obviously having been looking for them.

"This is insane." Sam announced. "No one remembers _anything_. Or, well, they've repressed it to gang fights. _Gang fights_. In Sunnydale. _Really_?"

Chloe giggled at his bewilderment.

"What exactly were you expecting?" Buffy wanted to know.

"I don't know, something." Sam muttered. "I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly."

Dean chuckled, messing up his brother's hair affectionately. "You're such a dork, bro."

"Cut it out, Dean!" Sam protested, smacking his hands from his hair and trying to fix it unsuccessfully.

"Sam, people have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Giles sighed."But we don't have the privilege of doing that. We have to be prepared for next time."

"Next time?" Dean narrowed his eyes. "What next time?"

"We prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell." Giles spoke. "That's not to say he's going to stop trying."

"Giles is right." Chloe nodded, sure. "The Master is stuck in a magical cage in the bowels of the earth, it's not like he has better things to do with his time."

"So." Dean sighed. "More vampires."

They stopped walking and looked at each other.

"Not just vampires." Giles shook his head. "The next threat we face may be something quite different."

"Yipee." Sam deadpanned.

"I can hardly wait!" Buffy added with fake cheerfulness.

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here." Giles made a face at the youths' attitudes. "We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction."

There was silence as that soaked in.

Buffy suddenly spoke up. "Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!"

The bell rung and the four grinning teens made their way to class, Giles standing behind and watching them go.

"That's a plan, we can all get expelled and move because not a lot of school are on Hellmouths so any other is better than here, right?" Sam asked, grinning brightly.

"Exactly my point." Buffy nodded.

"Maybe you could blow something up." Dean offered his two cents on the matter. "They're really strict about that sort of thing."

"What about a more subtle approach, guys?" Chloe offered. "One that _won't_ land us in jail till we're eighty? Like, I don't know, excessive _not_ studying."

"You know," Buffy thought it over. "That could actually work."

Giles sighed as he shook his head and turned to go back to his library. "The Earth is _doomed_."

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**How did you enjoy that? Review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't Own Buffy or Smallville.**

Wanna thank noe224evr, Shadow Girl, El Neneo, summergirlforever, vamp1987, Nindira, bushlaboo, Booksketeer, Veronic, ChamberlinofMusic, DarkWolfYingFa, SriHellgirl25 and Cici Linne for reviewing the previous chapter.

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"This is _madness_." Giles hissed at Buffy, who was wearing her old high school's cheerleading outfit and waving the pompoms in his face.

Chloe had _known_ the Watcher wouldn't take the news of Buffy wanting to join the cheerleading squad good at all, she'd _known_ it, and she'd warned Buffy too. The Slayer had been either too damned optimistic or stubborn when she'd said he wouldn't give her any trouble.

"So, what's with World War III?" Sam asked as he entered the library, sans Dean, who was most probably still flirting up a storm with every girl in Sunnydale High. The younger Winchester sat down next to Chloe, put his backup up on the table, and made a face, scrunching up his nose. "What's Buffy _wearing_?"

"You are the _Slayer_, lives _depend_ upon you!" Giles announced, beginning to pace the library floor. "I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a _certain_ amount of responsibility instead of which you _enslave_ yourself to this---this—_cult_!"

"You know, _most_ men would be too busy ogling my fine wares to argue over something like this." Buffy was pouting and glaring at Giles.

"Well, you should be glad that I am _most definitely not_ most men and that I wouldn't ogle a teenaged student who is under my care and guidance." Giles sniffed, sounding a bit insulted, taking his glasses off and wiping them.

Buffy's frown grew darker.

Chloe looked from Watcher to Slayer and back, not blaming Buffy at all for the crush she refused to admit having on Rupert Giles. The young Sullivan mightn't admit it to anyone else either, but she _too_ was somewhat attracted to Giles.

It was most definitely his knowledge, knowledge that only came from years of extensive studying and learning and dedication.

The fact that he was incredibly good looking also contributed to the crush, of course.

"Buffy's trying out for the cheerleading squad." Chloe filled Sam in as Giles tried to appeal to Buffy's common sense, and Buffy continued to be stubborn. "Apparently she was the captain of the squad from her old school and she misses it."

Sam scratched behind his head. "Wouldn't that take time out from Slayer training?"

"Thus Giles' refusal to give his blessing." Chloe replied.

Sam nodded, finally up to date on the situation.

"I forbid you to tryout." Giles announced imperiously.

A slow smirk formed on Buffy's face and she took a taunting step forwards. "And you're going to stop me, _how_?"

Giles frowned slightly, obviously not having thought that far in his plan.

Chloe giggled and shook her head, turning her back on them and giving an equally amused Sam her full attention. "So, where's Dean?"

Sam looked a little embarrassed. "The gym. Everyone's getting ready to do the tryouts and it's where he scopes for potential victims."

"Potential---?" Chloe then snorted. "You're mean."

"Well, it's not like he stays with them after they---." Sam then blushed and lowered his gaze, realizing what he was saying, and to _who_. "Uhm, yeah, you know what I mean."

Chloe sniggered, getting up as Buffy turned with a growl and stomped out of the library, obviously heading towards tryouts. The shorter blonde turned to where Giles was muttering to himself, shaking his head, and then looked at Sam. "Wanna come with?"

The brunette nodded and stood, shouldering his backpack once more and they spoke about the quiet week they'd had. Not one vampire had been sighted and while they were glad they were also worried that it meant the Master was planning something and needed all of his arsenal with him.

Sam and Chloe entered the gym and noticed Dean right away. The elder Winchester was grinning broadly, surrounded by girls in cheerleading outfits, looking completely in his element.

"So, are you twins?" Chloe asked, sending Sam a sideways glance. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you two look nothing alike, but you're brothers and you're the same age and in the same year at school."

"We're _half_ brother's, actually." Sam admitted, not noticing a blonde eyeing him with a smile, his blue/green eyes on Chloe. "Our dad was something of a Casanova back then and got our moms knocked up at the same time. Dean's older by two months though."

"Oh." Chloe blinked.

Sam nodded. "My mother died in a fire when I was six months old so I went to live with dad then, and Dean was already living with him because his mom had been murdered some months before when some colleague went on a shooting spree in her office, so we grew up like whole brothers and it's fun. Even _if_ he's a complete _jerk_ most of the time."

Chloe smiled at the brotherly love in Sam's voice as he spoke about Dean. "I always wanted a brother or sister, but my mom left dad and I when I was young. Dad never even thought to find someone else."

Now that she thought about it, all of them came from a broken home with only one parent active in their lives.

"Okay, everyone listen up!" The head cheerleader announced.

Buffy looked up from where she'd been warming up.

"We should sit on the stands." Sam announced, leading Chloe towards them.

"We're going to start with Amber Grove." The head cheerleader announced, reading the name from her notepad. "If you're not auditioning, move off the floor."

"Hey Sam." The blonde that's been staring at him arrived at their side as they sat.

"Amy." Sam gave her a friendly smile. "Wow, you look great. Did you lose weight?"

"Had to." She smiled brilliantly at him before sitting down by his side. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much," Sam's gaze slid to Chloe and then back to Amy. "This is Chloe."

Chloe smiled and reached her arm across him. "Nice to meet you."

Amy smiled back. "Nice to meet you too."

Sam waited for them to pull back before turning to the newcomer. "So, from the getup I'm guessing you're doing a tryout. I didn't know you wanted to be a part of this."

"Yeah, well, I wanted to try something different." Amy announced.

The music for Amber's routine started and everyone turned to look at the girl.

Everyone except Dean, of course, who was _still_ surrounded by girls and loving every moment of it.

"Wow, she's _good_." Chloe whispered, eyes wide as the Amber girl danced a very energetic routine filled with flips and twists and backhand stands that seemed to defy everything Chloe thought plausible when it came to the way the human body could (or _should_) move.

Sam looked a little bored before he suddenly narrowed his eyes and leaned forwards. "What's that stuff all around her?"

Chloe frowned and narrowed her eyes, realizing what Sam had picked up on. It was faint, growing stronger. It was… "Is that…_smoke_?"

Amber suddenly screamed, stopping her routine, and dropping her pompoms as her hands spontaneously combusted into flames.

Everyone stood, people screaming.

Buffy moved into action.

Sprinting up the bleachers she pulled down one of the banners for the school's basketball team and hurried back down. Tacking Amber to the floor she used the banner to put out the fire.

Dean and Sam rushed forwards to help Buffy while people screamed for teachers, for the principle, for 911.

Chloe got up and found herself moving away from the scene, found her feet taking her to the library. She knew that she should care a bit more if Amber was okay, but she didn't see how fussing over the girl like everyone else was would help the situation.

The girl had spontaneously combusted.

And Chloe doubted that was something the girl did every other Monday.

"_Giles_!" She called, seeing him poke his head out from the back aisle. "When someone spontaneously combusts in a school on the Hellmouth, you can consider that not a _norm_, right?"

Giles' eyes widened comically as he quickly hurried forwards, still holding the books he'd been putting away when she'd arrived. "Someone _spontaneously combusted_?"

Chloe pulled out a chair for herself and told him what had happened.

"Spontaneous human combustion is rare, _very rare_, and scientifically unexplainable." Giles announced, sitting down next to her and placing the books on the table. "But there have been cases for hundreds of years." He paused. "Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes."

"That's all that would have been left if Buffy hadn't been there." Chloe rubbed her fingers against the palms of her hands, somewhat nervous. "The fact that we have no idea what caused it, if it's something in her or something lighting people on fire at random, is _not_ comforting."

"But that's the _thrill_ of living on the Hellmouth." Giles announced, leaning towards her, grin on his handsome face. "There's a veritable _cornucopia_ of fiends and devils and ghouls to engage."

Chloe did her _best_ to remind herself that she should _not_ be sighing dreamily at her school librarian. "I told my friend something like that about Smallville. He looked at me like I was an idiot. Or insane."

Giles smiled, leaning back on his seat. "I do believe that if I had spoken such in front of Buffy, Dean and Sam they would have looked at me quite the same way. It's just that they don't understand, and they _are_ still children so I don't expect them to but---."

Chloe grinned. "Are you calling me old?"

"Heavens no." Giles chuckled. "But it is like you have an old soul, Miss Sullivan. It might be this connection you have with the energies of the Hellmouth---something I am still looking into, by the way."

"I happily volunteer to do research." Chloe declared. "Your books are _way_ interesting."

"Old Soul indeed." He seemed amused, both momentarily forgetting the situation at hand.

Dean slammed into the library. "I _knew_ it was too good, a _whole week_ without a vamp showing its face around here and then one of the prettiest girls in school nearly goes up in _flames_." He sank down in the seat opposite Giles'. "What are we up against _now_?"

"We're not sure," Chloe admitted. "But we don't think its vampire in origin. We think it's actually a case of spontaneous human combustion."

Dean made a face.

"Where are Buffy and Sam?" Giles asked.

"They took Amber to the infirmary." Dean replied before frowning. "Are there any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?"

"Rage." Giles tapped the top of the book in front of him. "In most cases the person who combusted was very angry."

"So one possibility could be that Amber has a power that lights her own body on fire, like the Human Torch, but sucks for her that it hurts." Dean decided, pulling out a coin from his pocket and dancing it over his knuckles pensively. "We need to find out if she's had any episodes before."

Giles and Chloe exchanged surprised looks.

"What?" Dean asked, looking slightly self-conscious at their expressions.

"_Nothing_." Chloe grinned, recuperating quicker than Giles. "I can get that information if it's registered. I mightn't be able to decrypt the town's security system like Sam, but I can easily hack into the school's computer system and pull up her files."

"Good." Dean nodded. "And I'll use my amazing good looks and effortless charm to get the skinny on her from the girls who hang out around her. It'll be easy. All I have to do is flash some pearly whites, cock my head to the side, and they'll tell me whatever I need to know."

The horrible part was that Chloe didn't doubt that for a second.

"This seems like…a very _good _plan." Giles _still_ seemed shock.

Winking, Dean got up as Chloe reached for her computer bag and pulled out her laptop. She was already booted and beginning her search, and Dean on his way out to James Bond the girls of Sunnydale High, when Sam and Buffy burst into the office, Buffy all business.

"Giles! We need to--!"

"One step ahead of you, _Slayer_." Dean snorted, walking out of the library quite smugly. "_One step ahead_."

Buffy stopped and turned to look at him, eyes narrowed, before turning to Giles. "What's he going on about?"

"I'm hacking into the school's computer system and Dean's going to take advantage of his good looks to find out if Amber's ever pulled a Johnny Storm before." Chloe announced, back to Buffy, typing furiously.

"Oh." Buffy visibly deflating, pouting slightly. "I was going to suggest something like that."

"What if she isn't the one who's causing this?" Sam wanted to know, aiming the question at Giles, who was trying to find the few books he had on the matter.

"Then," the librarian looked up, snapping the book closed he was looking through shut. "We'll have to find out _who or what_ is doing it…and deal with it accordingly."

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That night Chloe laid in bed, looking at the computer screen, at Clark's face, as he told her through video conference, of how life in Smallville was without her there.

"Thanks for your help by the way, it was the guy you thought it was." Clark announced, proudly. "Pete and I trapped him and now he's been shipped off to Belle Reeve." Finally finished with his tale, he shifted in his bed, looking at the screen expectantly. "What about you? Are you growing bored of it over there yet?"

"Not really." Chloe knew she couldn't exactly tell him about Sunnydale being a Hellmouth or about Buffy being a Slayer, _or_ about the weird things happening, but she didn't want to lie outright to him. "It's not exactly the big paradise it said it was on the brochure, but who's surprised?"

Clark smiled before ducking his gaze. "It's good to see your face again, Chloe. You---you've been so _busy_ lately with your new life and friends that I have to admit---I get kinda jealous."

Chloe's heart skipped a couple of beats and she told herself to _not_ blush. Clark did _not_ mean it romantically. She should know this by now and stop getting her hopes up! "You know you'll always be irreplaceable for me."

"And you for me." Clark whispered.

Suddenly wondering why this felt so weird, Chloe cleared her throat and pulled a strand of hair out of her face. "_So,_ how's Lana doing?"

Clark's face lost some of its happiness at this question. "She's fine, got back together with Whitney again."

"I'm sorry Clark." Chloe sighed, ducking her gaze, angry at Lana for again playing with Clark's feelings. "She'll figure what a catch you are some day and dump the douche bag."

"Douche bag?" Clark blinked, shocked. "Since when did you start using that word?"

Chloe was confused for a second and then she blushed, snorting in amusement. "It's one of Dean's favorite insults, so I've been hearing it a lot lately."

Clark's eyes narrowed angrily, protectively. "Some idiot's been insulting you?"

"What? No!" Chloe laughed, smiling at him for being so protective. "Dean and his brother Sam are two of my best friends over here, along with Buffy. We're always together, and _that's_ why I'm apparently picking up words from them."

"Oh." Clark's anger died as quickly as it'd appeared. "Dean, Sam and Buffy, huh?" He shifted on the bed. "Tell me about them."

"Well," What _could_ she tell him about them? "Buffy transferred the same day I did from L.A. so we kinda bonded because of that, and Sam and Dean---well, they just kinda came up to us the first day and we all started hanging out." She paused for a second, regrouping. "Dean's the school's hunk, it's _disgustingly amusing_ to see how the girls trip over themselves whenever he pays them some attention." She chortled with laughter. "Sam's got to be one the most intelligent guys, _people_, I've ever met. He's _amazing_ with a computer, makes _me_ jealous." She smiled. "And Buffy's great. We're complete opposites but that's the fun part of our friendship."

"So you're hanging with a real different crowd than you were here." Clark sounded odd.

Chloe frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't—don't mind me." Clark sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's the jealousy thing kicking in again. You're my best friend, but you seem _so happy_ with these three people and I feel like I'm easily replaceable."

Clark looked like a kicked puppy.

It was so _cute_.

"I told you once, I told you twice, you're irreplaceable." Chloe scolded playfully. "And anyway, I'm coming over there for summer, remember? I'll be spending the time with you on the farm---kicking you out of your room so you can enjoy the sofa."

Clark grinned. "Can't wait."

Chloe smiled right back before her phone beeped. "That was my own alarm. I have to go to sleep now or I'll be stupid tomorrow from lack of sleep."

"Night." Clark smiled before pressing his hand to the screen.

"Night." Chloe whispered back, pressing her hand to the image of his.

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"Hey." Chloe smiled the next day after lunch as she saw Amy admiring the trophies in the case with a longing look. "How were tryouts? I got waylaid by Principle Flutie on my way to the gym, asking how I was liking it here, and somehow it lasted for the whole tryout! I'm looking all over for Buffy but I can't find her."

"Buffy did okay." Amy announced, eyes still on the trophy. "But I _sucked_." She made a sound of disgust. "I blew the cartwheel and crashed into Cordelia. It wasn't pretty." She pointed to a picture in the case. "That's my mom."

Sensing the pride in Amy's voice, Chloe read the inscription. "Catherine Madison." She pulled back and smiled. "Your mom was really beautiful."

"And she was _great_ as a cheerleader." Amy nodded in agreement. "Her nickname was 'Catherine the Great'. She took that team and made them tri-country champions. Y'know, no one's ever done that before, or since." There was a pause. "She and my dad were Homecoming King and Queen. They got married right after graduation."

Chloe tilted her head slightly, eyeing the picture. "That's kinda romantic."

"Well," Amy snorted. "He was a big loser. Never made any money. Ran off with Miss Trailer Trash when I was twelve. Mom should have found herself someone like _Sam_. Someone who was intelligent--not only handsome, but had a kind heart and was going places. Sam's going places. He has promise."

"Yeah, he does." Chloe agreed.

"_He_ wouldn't leave his child and the mother of said child." Amy's face was stormy. "He wouldn't abandon them."

"My mom left us when I was around seven." Chloe admitted. "I never heard from her ever again. She must be _real_ happy with her life now to not give a crap about how her daughter is."

Amy was silent before turning to look at Chloe with a new appreciation. "Drag, huh? My old man left mom with nothing. She put herself through cosmetology school." A nostalgic smile touched her face. "Bought me everything I ever wanted." She then shook her head, smile wry. "And never once gained a single pound."

"Well, people's body types are different." Chloe reassured, seeing that this meant a great deal to the taller girl. "Things that your mom can do won't be the same for you because you don't have her genetics, you have a mixture of hers and your father's."

"The bastard won't even stop making my life miserable _now_." Amy hissed before storming away.

"What was _that_ about?" A voice asked at Chloe's right.

Jumping, she turned to see Sam watching Amy leave. "Don't _do_ that! You frightened me!"

Sam turned to her and smiled. "Sorry. Thought you'd noticed me."

"No, I was trying to reassure Amy that she shouldn't have to be exactly like her cheer queen mom." Chloe pointed to the pictures and to the trophy for reference.

"_Right_, Mrs. Madison." Sam made a face.

Chloe chuckled. "That bad?"

"She'd have made Hitler a perfect bride." Sam snorted as they turned and started walking together. "If the woman gained an ounce she'd padlock the fridge and wouldn't eat anything but broth."

"That's---somewhat mental."

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "I used to hang out with Amy in Junior High, and whenever her mom was on a broth kick Amy would come over to my house and bake brownies. It was like her coping mechanism, and Dean nor I complained because dad isn't exactly Suzie Homemaker, so we got free homemade brownies out of the deal."

Chloe laughed and slapped his shoulder playfully. "That's horrible of you two, taking advantage like that."

"I know." And yet he didn't look a bit apologetic.

"So, did Dean charm any useful information out of Amber's friends as yet?"

"Information? Yes. Useful, not exactly." Sam shook his head ruefully. "He knows her astrology sign, what she likes to do on dates, whether she kisses on the first date or not---_and_ somehow got the names and phone numbers of all of her friends." Sam snorted. "But he _did_ find out that Amber was an average student and got detention once for smoking."

"So we're going to have to wait and see if anything happens." Chloe sighed, not exactly liking that plan.

"They're posting the list!" Someone cried out as the girls all hurried to see if they'd been selected for the cheerleading squad.

Sam and Chloe, guessing that that was where they would find Buffy, followed the crowd at a more sedentary pace and found the Slayer next to Amy at the back of the line at the bulletin board.

A girl rushed away in tears, her name obviously not on the list.

"Hey!" Buffy smiled as she saw them. "We sent Dean into that pit of vipers for us, figured he had to have _some_ use."

Cordelia made her way carefully out of the crowd before stopping in front of Amy. "You're lucky."

Amy's eyes widened. "I made it?"

"_I_ made it." Cordelia corrected with a sneer. "Now I won't have to make your life a living hell like forewarned." She then smiled brilliantly. "_Bye_!" And she sashayed happily away.

Chloe watched the brunette walk away and shook her head.

Dean finally clawed his way out of the throng of women and got hit on the way out. "Not even my charming good looks protected me up in there." He complained, rubbing the back of his head with a wince. "One of those chicks hit me _really_ hard!"

"What a _big baby_." Sam sneered.

"_Bitch_." Dean glared at him, still rubbing the back of his head.

"_Jerk_." Sam laughed.

"_So_?" Buffy snapped at Dean. "What'd the list say?"

"Well, I don't exactly know cheer lingo," Dean forewarned. "But you made first alternate, and Amy's number three. Is that good or bad?"

Amy looked at Buffy, her face crumbling. "This would have _never_ happened to my mother. _Never_." And with that she stormed away.

"_Amy_!" Buffy hurried after her.

Dean looked from the retreating blondes and then to Chloe and Sam. "So I'm guessing that's a _bad_ thing."

Chloe nodded. "I don't know much about cheerleading either, but from the little knowledge I've gleaned, alternates aren't on the team but are like benchwarmers in sports terms. There for if something happens to the people who are actually _on_ the team."

Dean paused. "Sucks for the Slayer then." But he didn't seem heartbroken over it, more like amused. "So, since she'll probably be having a pity party with Amy later, how about the three of us hang out?"

Chloe made a face. "You're not going to ask me to bake brownies, are you?"

Dean looked confused as to the reference and then grinned. "Can you? Bake brownies? I haven't had any in the longest time."

Chloe opened her mouth to tell him 'in your dreams'…

"_Please_…" Sam chimed in, both brothers crowding her and giving her quite effective puppy dog eyes.

Chloe felt her resolve crumbling all around her. "If you choke and die on them, don't come to haunt me afterwards."

The boys grinned.

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The Winchester house was big, and it didn't really feel like a _home_. There were none of the cozy loving touches that made it a home and not a _house_, and Chloe couldn't help but feel sorry for Sam and Dean for growing up in a place like that. She was only too grateful that John Winchester had called in saying he'd be working late.

She was kinda intimidated by anyone who'd have a house like this.

"So the Slayer had to spend some quality time with mummy this evening." Dean didn't seem at all disappointed in this. "More brownies for us."

"I've seen you two eating," Chloe announced as Sam entered the kitchen, sitting down on the kitchen stool. "Where do you two _put_ all that food?"

Dean patted his stone-hard stomach.

Sam rolled his eyes. "_Thank_ you, Captain Obvious."

Chloe laughed and shook her head as she got the ingredients they'd bought on the way home and began the preparations, laughing and talking to the boys as she did so.

"So your dad doesn't find it odd or uncomforting that you're alone with two teenaged boys?" Sam finally asked.

"Nah, he's used to it." Chloe announced missing the look the brothers exchanged. "In Smallville my two best friends were boys, and we were always alone together, so he found it surprising that I'd made friends with _Buffy_."

"So how are you getting used to it here?" Dean wanted to know. "I mean, the weird factors must make you feel all at home, but you lived in Smallville for years, it's gotta be hard saying goodbye to your old life."

"Well, I haven't exactly said _goodbye_, more like a _see you later_." She admitted from where she was mixing the ingredients together in the large black bowl. "I mean, Pete and I email each other back and forth and there's not a day Clark and I don't communicate one way or the other." Her face went tender at the thought of the farm boy. "I usually spend nights video conferencing with him."

"He's the one on your desktop." Sam referred to the picture of Chloe kissing Clark's cheek while Clark stuck his tongue out at the camera.

"Yeah, that's Clark." Chloe nodded with a grin. "But I never made brownies for them so you two should feel special."

Dean smirked, leaning forwards onto the counter. "Yeah, well, I'm _used_ to women giving me special treatment so---." He laughed when Chloe splattered some of the mix onto his face. "No need to get jealous!"

Sam rolled his eyes, chuckling.

Chloe smiled as she looked from Dean to Sam and then back at her mix. "This is fun, we should definitely have Buffy over next time. _And_ Giles."

"Slayer and English?" Dean made a face. "_Way_ to ruin a good time."

"What exactly do you have against Buffy?" Chloe asked, grabbing the brownie tray and pouring the mix.

"Nothing really, it's just that she seems to think she's so _superior_ sometimes." He then made a face and began to mimic Buffy. "I'm the Slayer, you're not! I've got incredible strength—you don't match up to me!"

"Buffy's not like that and you know it." Chloe shook her head. "She's just worried that your male bravado, and ego, will get you into trouble. She _is_ a killing machine, you know. She was _born_ to do this."

"Yeah, but I _chose_ to help. And I'm going to continue doing it." Dean replied stubbornly. "Jesse was my friend, and I'm going to do all in my power to keep someone else from losing their friend that way."

Sam and Chloe exchanged a look before nodding and changing the subject.

The evening passed by filled with laughter and pigging out, and Chloe forgot that she'd left her phone on silent during school and thus didn't hear all the times Clark called her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How was mother/daughter night?" Chloe as Buffy the next day as they walked down the halls.

"A total disaster." Buffy sighed. "We fought, again, about what happened in L.A. She doesn't trust me and thinks I'll get into trouble again and burn _another_ gym down. She doesn't want me to _mess up her life_ anymore than I already have."

Chloe sighed and placed an arm around Buffy's shoulder. "I'm sure she doesn't feel that way. But she's new here too, Buff, and it's gotta be hard on her. I mean, on top of everything, she's just come out of a divorce."

"I _know_." Buffy agreed, shaking her head. "But it's just so hard, you know? I'm a Slayer, it's gonna get me in trouble for the rest of my life. Does that mean I'm going to continue messing up mom's life every time she starts to get it together?"

"You're not _messing_ up her life." Chloe grumbled. "Have you ever thought of telling her the truth?"

The Slayer snorted. "She'd have me in a crazy bin before I could finish the 'born to fight the demons and vampires of the world' speech." She shook her head and leaned into Chloe's embrace, smiling bravely. "So how was brownie night with the Winchesters?"

"It was fun, actually, we had a good time." Chloe beamed. "I was thinking next time we should all do it, at Giles' house. I'm sure the British enjoy a good brownie as much as the rest of us. Plus, he's kinda alone, don't you think?"

Buffy thought that over. "I've never heard him talk about himself, nothing about a life outside of the library and Watcher duties." She paused. "Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

Chloe had pondered on that question herself. "I have no idea, but he _is _handsome."

Buffy looked surprised. "You think so?"

"Yeah, totally." Chloe grinned. "And the accent? Le sigh."

Buffy looked at Chloe for a minute before giggling, looking more at ease now. "Good, I thought I was the _only_ one who thought that."

They shared a conspirator's grin before they noticed Cordelia walking past them in a daze. The brunette was swaying slightly, as if in a trance, as she went to a locker and tried working, unsuccessfully, the combination.

"Is that even Cordelia's locker?" Chloe asked, frowning.

Buffy didn't answer, eyes narrowed on Cordelia as she continued to sway and work the combination.

Cordelia gave up and continued down the hall, knocking into people and yet not seeing to notice.

"Something's not right." Buffy took a step to follow Cordelia. "Call it my Spidey Senses, but something's funky. Go tell Giles, okay? I'm going to follow Cordelia and see if I can figure out what's going on."

"Okay." Chloe nodded, turning around and heading towards the library to find Giles and fill him in on what was happening.

Not half an hour later Buffy, Sam and Dean were there as well, Buffy telling them about how Cordelia had gone to her Driver's Ed class and had nearly crashed, and the only reason why she hadn't been run over when she'd walked in front of a car was that Buffy had been there to pull her out of the way.

That was when Cordelia had started screaming about not being able to see, and Buffy told them that Cordelia's eyes had no longer had irises, and were completely white.

"Witchcraft." Giles decided as soon as Buffy was finished recounting what'd happened. "Blinding your enemy to disorient and disable them is, it's _classic_!"

"First vampires, now witches." Dean snorted, shaking his head in disgust.

"No _wonder_ you can sill afford a house in Sunnydale." Sam announced.

Giles leaned his hip against the table, folding his arms over his chest. "But why would someone want to harm Cordelia?"

"Because they _met_ her?" Dean ventured. "I mean, come on, _sure_ the chick is hot, but I went out with her for a _week._ She makes Satan look like Martha Steward."

"Martha Steward _is_ Satan." Chloe declared.

Sam looked up at Giles at that. "Really?"

"Of _course not_." Giles snorted. "She's a _irlisnzhur_ demon. Harmless, really, but annoying _perfectionist_ by nature."

"Makes sense." Buffy concluded.

"Getting back to the topic at hand." Chloe set her hands on the table. "What's the connection between Amber and Cordelia?"

"They don't hang out, I know that much." Dean put in.

"They're both cheerleaders." Buffy announced, looking up.

Giles made a face. "Someone doesn't like cheerleading?"

Sam's face fell. "Or likes it too much."

"Amy." Chloe, Dean and Buffy said at the same time.

Sam sighed and nodded. "She's desperate to get on that team, and lately I've just got this feeling, it's like, I don't know, she'd do just about anything to make her mom's dream come true."

Giles frowned. "Uh, let me make sure I have this right. This witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can…_become a cheerleader_?"

Buffy pouted at the way he made it sound like only _idiots_ cheered.

"Cheerleading was kind of her mom's last great accomplishment." Chloe offered.

"Okay, so we all agree it's Amy." Dean stood, leaning over the table, palms open and down on the surface. "Now we have to stop her before she hurts someone else—she _is_ the third option, which means that Buffy and the chick in second place could be in danger. We should grab the little witch and…"

Giles interrupted. "I think we should be sure she's the witch before we arouse her suspicions. She's, she's capable of some fairly unpleasant things. We have to find a conclusive test. There may be something in here…" He paged through a book. "Yes, this should do it. You'll need some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis."

"Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid." Sam announced as if everyone should know this. "You can get that in the science lab."

Giles nodded approvingly before reading out from the book. " 'Heat ingredients and apply to witch, and if a spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, a witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm." He snapped the book shut. "Oh, and you'll need some Eye of Newt."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chloe and Dean didn't have science with Amy, Buffy, or Sam, instead having History, so they weren't there for Sam and Buffy to enact their ingenious plan on how to brew the needed potion _during_ class, and steal some of Amy's hair---_also_ during class.

They weren't there to see Buffy feign trip and drop the solution onto Amy, and they weren't there to see it turn blue upon contact, and fortunately enough (in Chloe's belief) they weren't there to see Lishanne (one of the cheerleaders) lose her mouth.

Literally.

One minute her mouth had been there and the next it, just, _disappeared_.

"Did you see Amy?" Sam has asked Buffy when they'd all gotten together afterwards. "She was as freaked out as the rest of us."

"So it's not her?" Dean asked, confused.

"Her skin turned blue where the potion landed." Buffy pressed on, shaking her head. "She's our Sabrina. She just---maybe she just doesn't realize she's doing it."

"Do you think we should talk to her?" Chloe asked.

"No." Buffy shook her head. "We should talk to her _mother_, let her know what her obsession has created."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JockBoy says:

**I'm completely failing every subject without you to cheat from.**

Sully says:

**That's the only reason you miss me, huh, Pete?**

JockBoy says:

**You know that's not true! ^Wounded Expression^**

Sully says:

**:D :P**

JockBoy says:

**Clark's missing you, and he's been sulking the whole day. Said you ignored his calls yesterday?**

Sully says:

**I had my phone on mute and I didn't check it. I was making brownies with the boys.**

JockBoy says:

**Is that some codeword for something?**

Sully says:

**NO. It means I was making brownies with the boys. ^gives you a raised eyebrow^**

JockBoy says:

**Okay, good, because I don't wanna come to California only to beat the crap out of some Cali boys for being fresh with my lil sister.**

Sully says:

**I'm beginning to see why I never got a boyfriend in Smallville.**

JockBoy says:

**Nah, that was ALL Clark. He might be sweet and puppydog like, but he's got muscles, and guys were intimated by his death glare.**

Sully says:

**Death glare?**

JockBoy says:

**And you call ME oblivious. ^Wiggles eyebrows^**

Sully says:

**^shakes head^ okay jockboy, I find this delusion of yours quite interesting, but I have to go to bed. Goodnight, and tell Clark to stop sulking, he broods enough when it comes to Lana. He doesn't need to start with ME now!**

JockBoy says:

**Doesn't that say something to you?**

Sully says:

**Huh?**

JockBoy says:

**OBLIVIOUS!**

Sully says:

**Oooooookkkaaaaaayyyyy ^confused expression^ Gotta go. Try stay outta trouble!**

JockBoy says:

**This IS Smallville we're talking about…**

Sully says:

**True that.**

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Chloe wasn't exactly sure _why_ Buffy had decided to wait until after school the next day to go visit Mrs. Madison, but she _was_ sure that something was wrong with Buffy when she entered the gym to watch her friend practice, and the blonde with the pompoms started giggling madly when she saw her.

"Chloe!" Buffy jumped gleefully. "My best friend is here! I love my best friend! Hi! I'm over here! And full of cheer! Hey! That rhymes!" She giggled and then noticed everyone staring at her. "Hi…Oh…" She then got back in line and the routine continued.

Chloe shook off the surprise, though she kept her eyes narrowed, and went to sit down.

Was it her or did Buffy seem a bit looped?

Chloe sent the cheerleaders a worried expression as the continued with a series of assisted cartwheels. Buffy overthrew Joy's aerial, sending the head cheerleader crashing into the gym wall.

Chloe winced.

Joy struggled to get up and Buffy hurried over towards her.

"Did I do that?" Buffy asked.

Joy pushed Buffy away from her. "You are _so_ out of here!"

Deciding she'd seen enough, Chloe got up and hurried down the bleacher's to reach Buffy's side, grabbing hold of her arm when the girl swayed slightly.

"It's not her fault, she's obviously not feeling her best, look at her, she's _swaying_." Chloe defended.

"Whatever." Joy sneered before looking around and noticing Amy. "You, blonde girl with the sad belief that orange was ever in style. You just made cheerleader. Now get into rank!"

"Yes ma'am!" Amy smiled, hurrying to join the others.

"No, no, no." Buffy shook her head, her words beginning to slur slightly. "You don't want her! She's a wi-----."

"A _wise_ choice." Chloe plastered her hand over Buffy's mouth, her other hand going around Buffy's waist as the girl began to lean her weight on her, heavily. "Good luck Amy!"

"Thanks!" The blonde waved a pompom at Chloe.

"I'm just going to take this one to the infirmary." Chloe announced, but no one was paying her any attention as she hurried out of the gym awkwardly, supporting Buffy's weight as they waddled down the hall towards the library. Chloe had the sinking feeling that despite Buffy's symptoms seeming to suggest she was _drunk_, that the Slayer was actually suffering the feelings of the next curse.

"She's a _witchy_…" Buffy complained, words slurred.

"Yes, she sure seems to be." Chloe agreed, ignoring the curious looks some of the students were giving them as they neared the library. "Come on Buff, help me here, don't drag your feet."

"I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?" Buffy asked.

Chloe winced. "I don't think it was your fault." They rounded the corner and entered the library.

Giles stood up immediately from his desk when he saw them. "Good heavens! What's happened to her?"

"I think she was the victim of the next curse." Chloe groaned under Buffy's weight as it got heavier and heavier, Buffy leaning more and more on her."

"_Oh_!" Buffy whimpered. "I—I don't feel so good."

"Buffy?" Chloe asked.

But Buffy's only answer was for her eyes to roll in the back of her head and for her to collapse, her full weight sagging on Chloe and dragging them both to the ground.

Giles surged forwards and picked up the unconscious Slayer, hurrying to lay her on his desk. "Tell me everything that's happened." His voice was hard, unlike the Giles Chloe was used to.

Chloe quickly complied, worried as Buffy lay pale and lifeless on Giles' desk. "We need to get her to the hospital." She announced when she finished recounting everything.

"Doctors can't help her." Giles sighed, having gone pale during Chloe's narrative. "This is a bloodstone vengeance spell." He took Buffy's pulse. "It hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol then it e-eradicates the, uh, immune system."

"A vengeance spell." Chloe whispered. "She's trying to get even with Buffy?"

"Buffy's methods of retrieving her hair must have tipped her off to Buffy knowing about her abuse of witchcraft." Giles nodded, gaze still firmly, and worriedly, on Buffy.

"It makes sense." Chloe nodded. Buffy wasn't exactly the most discreet person. "The others Amy just wanted out of the running. But Buffy she wants to get rid of." She frowned. "How much time do we have?"

Giles was serious, face hard. "A couple of hours. Three at most."

"Not much time there for error." Chloe worried her bottom lip. "Well? How do we reverse the spell?"

Giles finally tore his gaze away from Buffy's pale face. "I've been researching these sorts of things since we realized that we had a witch on our hands, and I wanted to see what sorts of curses and such were common in this practice."

Chloe nodded for him to continue when he'd paused, thinking that that had been extremely intelligent of him to do.

"We can reverse the spells if," he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "If we lay our hands on Amy's spell book."

"And what if we can't get a hold of it?" Chloe asked, hoping to hell there was a plan B.

Giles put back on his glasses. "The other way is to cut the witch's head off."

Chloe winced, hoping it didn't get to that. "Where would she be casting these spells?"

Giles thought about that for a second. "She'd need a sacred space. A pentagram, um, a large pot."

"Her home." Chloe deduced. "Okay, good. We should go there now."

"We can't leave Buffy here by herself!" Giles announced, horrified.

"Well we can't exactly _take_ her with us, can we?" Chloe snapped. "We need to go to Amy's house and get her book so we can perform the counter-spell or Buffy will die---in around three hours."

Giles winced at the thought.

The doors to the library flew open and Dean entered, followed by Sam.

"We just went by the gym and saw Amy practicing with the others." Dean announced, pausing when he saw Buffy's unconscious form. "What the hell happened?!?"

"Bloodstone vengeance spell. If we don't get the counter-spell she'll die in less than three hours." Chloe grabbed Giles' tweed coat and shoved it into his chest before grabbing his keys. "We're going to go get Amy's spell book. You two stay here. I need Dean to find Buffy a less conspicuous place to be unconscious other than Giles' desk and watch over her, and Sam, I need you to keep an eye on Amy."

Both males nodded obediently in the wake of her supreme bossiness.

Giles took his keys from Chloe. "Keep Amy away from the science lab. We'll need it to cast our counter-spells."

The Watcher and Chloe hurried out of the school and drove in silence towards where the Madison home was. Giles seemed like a man on a mission, and Chloe kinda felt bad for Mrs. Madison because she had a feeling he was going to take out his frustration on her.

They reached the house and hurried out, Giles jogging up the steps and knocking loudly on the door. Chloe caught up with him and looked up when the door opened to show a pretty and worried looking redheaded woman.

"Who are you?" Catherine Madison asked, eyeing both of them nervously.

"Mrs. Madison." Giles narrowed his eyes, all business, his English accent more pronounced with his anger. "We need to talk to you about your daughter."

A strange emotion crossed over Catherine's expression at this. "I'm not allowed----you'll have to come back later." She tried to close the door but Giles prevented her and pushed his way in.

Never had Chloe had been as attracted to a man as she was then as she followed him inside, closing the door behind them with determination.

Giles followed a nervous Catherine into the sitting room, eyes flashing. "Your daughter is meddling with something very dangerous, are you aware of that?"

"Uh, I, uhm, I don't know what you're talking about." Catherine stammered, unable to meet their gaze.

"Oh, I think you know only too well." Giles accused.

By now Catherine looked terrified. "You've got to go. She's gonna be home soon, and you…"

Giles interrupted, taking a menacing step forwards. "A wonderful young woman is _very_ sick at the moment because of your daughter and she will _die_ in the next couple of hours if things continue the way they are!" His voice was furious. "Now you will shut up and you will listen to me! Your daughter has access to some very powerful magicks, and somehow your obsession with cheerleading has made----."

Catherine interrupted, incredulous. "I don't care about cheerleading! It's not _my _fault she's doing stuff!"

Chloe paused, believing the feeling behind those words, trying to understand what exactly had bugged her from the moment she'd entered the house. Her green gaze surveyed the living room and landed upon a huge plate filled with brownies…

_Oh my god_.

Her eyes opened as her hand went to her mouth to silence her gasp of surprise as suddenly _everything_ made sense.

"As her mother you should assume some responsibility for her actions." Giles growled.

The woman laughed somewhat hysterically. "Well, you know, kids these days! I…" She calmed down somewhat. "She's out of her mind. Ever since dad, her dad, left I can't control her."

But it wasn't fooling Chloe.

The blonde just couldn't believe it. "_Amy_?"

Catherine's gaze swerved to her, eyes wide in shock.

Giles looked at Chloe, puzzled.

"She switched you." Chloe whispered, finally vocalizing her realization. "She switched your bodies."

Catherine looked down, defeated, eyes watering rapidly.

Giles' eyes widened as the truth dawned on him. "Good Lord!"

"She wanted to relieve her glory days." Chloe understood.

Catherine, _Amy_, looked up, bottom lip trembling. "She said I was wasting my youth. So she took it." She collapsed on her sofa, fighting the tears visible in her eyes. "I didn't know anything about her powers. I mean, when dad was here they would fight and yell and he would---call her a witch and I---I thought he just meant… Oh _God_." She closed her eyes tightly, a stray tear making its way down her pale cheek. "When he left I wanted to go with him, but she wouldn't even let me _call_. She went crazy, I mean, she'd lock herself upstairs for _days_ and she was always coming down on me, telling me I didn't deserve to have it so easy, and that I didn't know…how hard it was to be her. I guess she showed me, huh?"

"It's going to be alright. We're going to stop her." Chloe reassured before frowning. "How long has this been going on?"

Amy wiped at a few tears and sniffled. "A few months ago I woke up in her bed. I—I didn't know where I was and then I looked in the mirror…"

"She locked herself upstairs?" Giles interrupted, suddenly determined.

Amy nodded.

"Where?" He pressed.

"The attic." The girl trapped in her mother's body answered.

Giles took off upstairs but Chloe decided to remain with Amy below.

They stayed in silence until Giles hurried back down, a large ancient tome under his arm. "I believe we can reverse your mother's spell." Were the first words out of his mouth. "All of them, in fact."

"You could?" Amy asked, eyes wide in hope. "Really?"

He nodded as he walked towards the door.

Amy's smile collapsed. "Where are you going?"

"To the school." Giles responded, turning back to her at the door. "And you're coming with us."

As Chloe followed the Watcher out of the door, she decided that the thing Buffy would most regret about this whole situation once she was healthy again was _not_ the near death experience, but the fact that she'd missed seeing this side of Giles.

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The game had started, Chloe knew that somewhere in the back of her mind as they entered the science lab and found Dean looking up from where he'd been guarding Buffy's unconscious form.

"Mrs. Madison?" He nearly squeaked, standing up, looking confused and defensive.

"Hey Dean." Amy smiled weakly before looking at Buffy, eyes wide in horror. "I can't believe mom."

Chloe turned to a confused Dean. "It's Amy. Her mom switched bodies."

His hazel eyes widened in shock. "_What_?" He looked like he didn't know whether to be horrified or amused as he added: "You mean Mrs. _Madison's_ the one's whose been trying to get into Sammy's pants?"

Amy's gaze turned horrified on Dean. "_WHAT_?!?"

"No time for this!" Giles declared, interrupting, going to Buffy's side immediately as he took off his coat and spoke to her unconscious figure. "I'm gonna stop this. I promise." He folded his coat and put it tenderly under her head. "You just hang on."

Chloe watched this and smiled softly, filing this as yet another thing Buffy was going to be pissed about having missed seeing.

The watcher went to the box of books and things he'd brought from Catherine's, and together he and Amy set up the things on the teacher's bench. Giles reached in to get Catherine's spell book.

"How is she?" Amy asked, looking at Buffy worriedly.

"We only have a few minutes left." Giles responded softly.

"Where's Sam?" Chloe asked Dean.

"He's in the stand in the gym, keeping an eye on Amy---err---_Mrs. Madison_ during the game." Dean responded. "He keeps texting me updates every couple of minutes so I'll know she's there."

"Good." Chloe nodded. She wished she could do more to help, but since she had no idea what to do when it came to magick she left it in Giles and Amy's hands, watching with a wince as Amy cut an eye from a frog, looking squeamish about it.

"Right!" Giles nodded at the potion before him. "Here we go!" He began to recite as he mixed the potion. "The center is dark. Centrum est obscurus. The darkness breathes. Tenebrae respiratis. The listener hears. Hear me!"

Chloe felt the world around her spin uncontrollably and her knees gave out as energy swirled all around her.

Dean hurried to Chloe's side. "Chlo?" He quickly picked up her boneless body into his arms. "Chloe!"

"What's wrong with her?" Amy asked, hysteric.

"She's connected to the Hellmouth energy." Dean held Chloe close, shaking her body slightly, looking into her open, unseeing eyes. "I think she's reacting to the energies building up for the spell."

_Chloe saw the gym, saw Catherine in her daughter's body, saw her stop in mid chant with the other cheerleaders and look around, startled. Catherine's vision flashed to what Amy was seeing in the science lab, the book, the frog, and a dead-looking Chloe in a worried Dean's arms. It was so weird for Chloe to see herself like that._

Amy gasped, feeling the energy herself. "It's…it's working!"

Giles continued reading. "Unlock the gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear."

Amy staggered back and covered her face.

Giles raised his voice with authority. "Show me…"

The lights went out in the classroom.

"She's coming!" Amy whimpered, sensing when her mother realized what exactly was going on.

Giles looked worried.

_"Amy!"_

_In the halls, Catherine turned at Sam's voice. "Not now Sam!"_

_Sam hurries up behind her. "Don't do it, Amy."_

_"Don't do what?" She snapped, stopping for a moment to glare at him. "Leave me alone, Sam. I have to do something!"_

_He grabbed her arm and swung her back, eyes narrowed. "Amy. Stop it. I know everything, okay? I know you're a witch and you've cursed all those girls to get onto the cheerleading squad."_

_Catherine's eyes widened. "How did you---?"_

_"Now you've hexed my friend Buffy, and I can't let you hurt her." Sam's grip tightened._

_"Let go of me!" Catherine hissed, trying to jerk her hand out of his hold. "You like her! You're going to leave me for her, aren't you!"_

_"What?" He asked, confused._

_"You men are __**all**__ alike!" Catherine flung her arm towards him and used her power to throw him into the wall, knocking him unconscious._

_Her face was a ferocious snarl as she starts running towards the lab._

Giles held up his arms and continued chanting. "Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!" He plunged his hands into the mixture he'd concocted.

The door handle rattled viciously.

Amy's gaze went to the door, where someone was trying to yank it open desperately, and took a couple of worried steps backwards.

Giles took his hand out of the brew. "Be sated! Release the unworthy!"

Chloe felt like she was _burning_ from the inside out.

Suddenly the yanking stopped, and there was a moment's peace before something hard thudded against the door.

An _axe_.

Catherine must have broken the glass in the fire emergency kit in the hall.

"Release!" Giles commanded.

Catherine began to chop down the door.

"_Release_!" Giles stressed the word harshly, voice tinged with desperation.

Buffy laid prone, lifeless, on the counter.

Chloe felt Dean shift so that his back was towards the others, protecting her with his body.

Catherine made a hole with the axe, reaching through and opening the door. She marched inside of the laboratory, axe in hand, straight over towards Buffy.

"_RELEEEASE!_"

Catherine started to wield the axe, about to bring it down on Buffy, but stopped when there was a flash of light, and Chloe felt a scream tear out of her own lips at the scorching energy of the magic that flowed around her as the spells were all broken.

"_Chloe_?" Dean's voice was shaky, near hysterical.

The bright light died away into another, and Amy, now in her own body, stepped back and lowered the axe.

Chloe was trembling fiercely, yet had gotten enough strength to reach forwards and clench her hand in Dean's shirt, her pained gaze meeting his worried one.

Buffy awoke, sitting up on the table in confusion, looking around. "What happened? Where am I?"

Catherine screamed and lunged herself at Buffy from the side, tacking her to the floor, the element of surprise giving her a moment's advantage.

Giles advanced, holding his arm out and pointing. "You! _You_---!"

Catherine growled and looked at him. She narrowed her eyes and suddenly Giles flew backwards into a table, knocking him down and out in seconds.

Amy tightened her hold on the axe. "Mom! Stop it!"

"You little brat!" Catherine hissed like a snake, holding her hand and the axe flew from Amy's hands to hers as she stood. "How _dare_ you raise your hand to your mother! I gave birth to you! I gave up my _life_ so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it _living_?" She swung the axe into the lab table. "You've never been anything but trouble!"

Dean lowered Chloe to the ground carefully and looked around for something to use as a weapon before grabbing the chair and charging Catherine.

The witch must have sensed him because she twirled around and with a narrowing of her eyes she sent Dean flying into the desk, before turning to Amy once more. "I'm going to put you where you can't make trouble again!"

Buffy jumped up behind Catherine, finally figuring out what had happened. "Guess what?" She smirked when Catherine turned to face her. "I feel better!" She punched the older woman, sending her flying through the air, landing on one of the lab tables, and rolling off, hitting a shelf full of bottles along the way.

Catherine quickly got up, hissing at the Slayer. "That body was mine! _Mine_!"

"Oh _grow up_!" Buffy sneered.

Clearly offended by that suggestion, Catherine growled, holding her arm out towards Buffy and used her powers to send her flying against the wall. Buffy hit the wall and fell to the ground, quickly getting back up and craning her neck.

The excess of magic was tearing at Chloe deep inside, leaving her squirming and crying on the floor, gasping for breath and clawing at her own neck, desperate.

"I shall look upon my enemy!" Catherine began to cast a spell as she looked at Buffy, her eyes bleeding black. "I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!"

It was like molten lava eating Chloe from inside, and she couldn't even scream.

Buffy looked all around her for a way to stop Catherine. She spotted the pole holding up a mirror above her.

"Corsheth!" Catherine cried out. "Take her!"

Buffy did a standing hook kick, knocking the pole out from under the mirror and letting it flop down. Catherine's spell leapt from her hands and reflected in the mirror back towards her.

The last thing Chloe heard before the darkness consumed her was the sound of Catherine's scream.

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Chloe was sick of fainting.

Hugging herself tightly, she stood before the case with Catherine's picture and the trophy. The blonde had awoken a couple of hours ago in the library, with Giles, Sam, Dean, Buffy and even _Amy_ going over books and tomes and ancient texts trying to find a spell to somehow lessen the effects Hellmouth magic seemed to have on her.

They hadn't found anything.

Chloe hugged herself tighter and continued to look at the trophy, the tips of her fingers still sensitive from the overload of magic and energy.

"Catherine the Great." A voice said behind her.

Chloe turned and saw Amy standing there, looking a little nervous.

From what Chloe had been told, when Catherine's spell had rebounded on her she'd disappeared with a roar and a flash of light.

"That last spell…" Amy stepped forwards until she was standing next to Chloe, staring at the picture of her mother with a shiver. "She said that I'd never make trouble again. Hopefully, wherever she is---_hopefully_ we never have to worry about her again."

They both looked at Catherine's cheerleading trophy.

"Your dad's coming to pick you up, right?" Chloe asked.

Amy nodded, smiling. "Apparently when Giles broke her spells, he broke the one she had on dad to keep him away from me. He called me right away."

"Everything's going to be okay now." Chloe assured Amy as they turned, heading back towards the library. "Catherine won't be able to get to you anymore."

"Wherever she is." Amy whispered.

Chloe decided that Amy didn't need to know that the reason Chloe had been drawn to the trophy was the residue of Hellmouth magic surrounding it. And she couldn't help but feel relieved that Amy hadn't realized that the trophy's eyes were now those of her mother.

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**God, this took forever to write!**

**Review?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or Smallville or Supernatural.**

**I want to thank swasdiva, bushlaboo, SriHellgirl25, Shadow Girl, Nindira, violent-smurf, Veronica, ChamberlinofMusic, and DiscoLemonadeDiva for reviewing the previous chapter.**

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Taking in a deep breath, Chloe smiled as she looked at the dancing bodies all around her. It was relaxing to just come to the Bronze and see people having fun, she didn't know why she never used to do stuff like this while back in Smallville.

Not that they'd had anything similar to a Bronze in Smallville.

There was a live band playing tonight called Superfine, playing the song "Already Met You". She knew Buffy liked this band, they'd played here at the Bronze before, and she knew the Slayer was going to be disappointed to have missed out on this.

But Buffy's mother had noticed her decline in grades due to her _not_ studying, and had threatened to ground her if her grades didn't come up, so upon hearing this Giles had given his Slayer a disapproving glare and told her no more partying. On the nights before patrolling she was to stay with him at the library _studying_.

Although Buffy had pouted and complained she really hadn't put up as much of a fuss as she should have, which didn't surprise Chloe at all. She figured, deep down inside, Buffy was glad for the excuse to be alone with Giles, even if the quite oblivious Englishman didn't realize it.

Chloe caught a glimpse of Dean and grinned when she saw him rolling his eyes as Cordelia had him cornered, obviously arguing. Dean looked like he wanted to tell her to just shove off, and she kept on throwing her hands in the air.

_I don't even want to know what that is all about_.

Her green gaze swept the room and finally found Sam, who was having a drink by the 'bar' (which didn't serve alcohol to minors). He was leaning against the counter, half listening to Blayne Matthews from their biology class as the jock talked to one of his minions.

"Seven, including Cheryl." Balyne smirked. "I'll tell you, though, her sister was lookin' to make it eight!"

Sam rolled his eyes at them.

Chloe smirked as she made her way towards him.

"Ooh, Cheryl's _sister_?" The other boy asked Blayne, impressed. "The one in college?"

Blayne nodded, quite impressed with himself. "Home for the holidays and lookin' for some love!" He puffed out his chest with pride. "She's not my type, though. Girls really gotta have something to go with me."

"Like what?" Sam snorted, interrupting the conversation. "A _lobotomy_?"

Chloe sneered in agreement.

The two boys turned to look at him.

Blayne made up his face at Sam. "I know your brother's one of the _big men_ on campus, a local locker room hero, but what about _you_, Sam?" He looked so _smug_. "How many times have _you_ scored?"

Sam's eyes widened slightly and a blush covered his face.

Blayne snorted. "It's just a question."

His friend laughed in derision.

Sam looked embarrassed and humiliated.

Chloe narrowed her eyes before clearing her throat, fixing her shirt so that one strap was almost falling off her shoulder, and pasted a sultry smile as she made her presence known. "_Baby_!"

They all turned to look at her and none were more surprised than Sam when she plastered herself against him, fistfuls of the front of his shirt in her hands, her back arched so she could look up into his face, grinning saucily into at him.

"Uhm, _hi."_ Sam's face was redder than before and he looked like he didn't know what was happening or where to put his hands.

Chloe sidled a look at Blayne and his friend, smug at how impressed they now seemed with Sam all of a sudden.

Sam seemed to get what was going on, because he suddenly relaxed and smirked, arm going around her waist as he pulled her tighter into his larger frame.

Chloe returned her gaze to Sam and walked her fingers up his chest. "What do you say you tell your brother you're bored with this scene and we get out of here?"

Sam tried his best to send a long suffering look in the boys direction. "Sorry boys, duty calls." And with that he sauntered away, arm around Chloe, with the blonde clinging to him.

Only when they were out of sight did they pull apart and laugh as soon as their gazes met. Amusement colored their faces as they enjoyed a prank pulled off.

"Thanks for that." Sam announced, smiling gratefully at her. "You didn't have to."

"Oh please, _someone_ had to knock the Casanova down a peg or two." Chloe waved that off. "Just two days ago he propositioned Buffy and me---_at the same time_."

Sam shook in head in disgust. "Why is it that I have no trouble imagining that?"

"Because you know the type of guy Blayne is?" Chloe snarked before her gaze landed on someone she hadn't expected to see. "I don't believe it."

"What?" Sam asked.

"I---I have to go talk to someone, wait here for me. I have a feeling we're going to need to go to the school and talk to Buffy and Giles after this." She didn't even look away from the man in the shadows of the Bronze, staring at her, before she walked away from Sam.

Making her way towards him, Chloe dodged a couple of teens here and there until she was standing in front of Angel, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Why do I feel I should be wary you're here?" She asked.

He chuckled slightly at that, though his face was deadly pale and he didn't look very amused, if anything, he looked a little worried. "Hi."

There was silence as they continued to look at each other.

Chloe didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed. "_Should_ I be wary?"

"I won't be long." He answered.

She frowned, immediately worried. "I _should_, shouldn't I? You're going to tell me something I don't wanna hear, aren't you?"

He smiled apologetically at her.

Chloe eyes narrowed as she noticed a stain darkening the front of his shirt and without pause to think of what she was doing, she lifted up his shirt, revealing a taunt, muscular stomach with a series of ugly, _fresh_ cuts. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing." He smoothened down his shirt again with a small wince of pain. "I didn't pay attention, that's all."

"To what?" Chloe gasped. "Someone with a big _fork_?"

He didn't see the humor, eyes intense. "He's coming."

"Fork Guy?" Chloe asked, for lack of a better, more villainous name.

"Tell the Slayer not to let him corner her." Angel instructed. "Tell her to not give him a moment's mercy. He'll rip her throat out."

"Shouldn't _you_ be the one telling her this?" Chloe asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Why come to me? I'm almost _sure_ you know where she is right now."

Angel looked uncomfortable. "I find you easier to deal with than her. She's very---_mouthy_---and a little---_annoying_."

Chloe bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing at that. "And I'm the lesser of two evils?"

Angel seemed to realize she was laughing at him, and his lips twitched slightly in amusement before he cleared his throat. "I have to go." He turned and left, disappearing out of the door into the shadows as quickly and soundlessly as he'd appeared in the Bronze.

Chloe turned and watched him go, looking at the closed door long after he'd left.

"Who was that?" A voice asked behind her.

She turned and finally remembered Sam, wondering why he seemed so tense all of a sudden. Then again, it was wise not to trust any stranger in general, _especially_ if you were living on a Hellmouth. "_That_ was Angel."

"The weird guy that warned Buffy about the Harvest?" Sam tore his gaze from the door and fixed it on her.

"Yep." Chloe nodded. "The one and only."

"Oh." He didn't say anything for a long time, his jaw tense, before he finally cleared his throat. "So, anymore cryptic messages?"

"Yes, actually." She quickly told him what Angel had told her.

Sam frowned. "That's all he said? _Fork_ Guy?"

Chloe nodded, slightly amused. "That's all Cryptic Guy said: Fork Guy."

Sam suddenly smirked. "I think there are too many 'guys' in your life." He chuckled as he threw his arm casually around her shoulder. "How about we save Dean from Attack of the Exes and he and I walk you back home?" The tall boy maneuvered her so that they were walking towards where Dean was still arguing with Cordelia. "I don't want you walking back to your home alone anyway, and its less safe with Fork Guy running on the loose."

"But we need to tell Buffy and Giles." Chloe protested.

"You can _call_ her once you're safe in home and Dean and I are heading back to our place." Sam's reasoning was sharp.

"Oh _alright_." Chloe sighed.

Sam gave her a little squeeze, and they headed out on their mission to save Dean.

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The next day found Chloe yawning into her hand, sleepy. She hadn't had much sleep since Buffy and her had been on the phone until three in the morning, chatting about what Angel had said and how the first 'study date' (as Chloe was referring to it) with Giles had went.

"Okay, I've got some gossip." Dean announced as he came towards them and threw himself on the grass where they were sitting, talking while waiting for the first bell to ring.

"Where's Sam?" Buffy asked, interrupting, as she noticed the absence of the younger Winchester.

"With Giles." Dean shrugged that off as unimportant. "I come offering gossip, remember?"

"Since when did you become a girl?" Buffy raised an eyebrow at him playfully.

Dean flipped her off before turning his attention to Chloe. "_So_, guess what I just heard in the office? No Dr. Gregory today."

"What happened?" Buffy asked, frowning, probably wondering why this was worthy of the title: Gossip. "Is he sick?"

"They didn't say anything about _being sick_," Dean deigned to look at her once more. "From what _I_ overheard, the word they were using sounded more like _missing_."

"Missing?" Chloe frowned, immediately concerned.

Dr. Gregory was their science teacher, and he was the only one she liked on the faculty!

"You two look awfully stricken with that news." Dean decided, sounding curious.

"He's one of the only teachers who doesn't think I'm a _felon_." Buffy mourned.

"He was so _nice_." Chloe added. "I heard rumors that he spent a couple of years in Africa teaching kids in small villages with no schools."

"Really?" Buffy's expression was pure _awww_.

Chloe nodded.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "_Speaking_ about rumors, what's this I hear about you and my baby brother hooking up last night?"

Chloe laughed. "I bet the guys who'd snubbed Sam before are all congratulating him and clapping him on the back now."

Dean nodded, looking amused. "He's more than somewhat _disturbed_ by all the touching, yes."

"Well, the show you two put on last night must have been convincing." Buffy decided with a grin.

"Show?" Dean looked from one girl to the other. "You mean there's no wedding bells in the future?"

"No." Chloe shook her head, but was spared the need to talk further on the subject as the bell rung. She got up and brushed off her skirt before turning to Dean. "We have science first period, right?"

He nodded.

"I got history." Buffy pouted before waving her goodbyes and stalked off alone to her next class.

Dean and Chloe talked about homework (which Dean hadn't done—of course) and when they reached the science they saw a relatively attractive woman writing her name on the board.

As Chloe was passing the desk she noticed something on the ground and frowned as she bent to pick up a pair of cracked glasses she recognized.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, surprising her because she thought he'd journeyed on to his seat.

"They're Dr. Gregory's glasses." She showed them to him. "Why are they still here?"

"Maybe he got a new pair." Dean shrugged, not really interested.

Guessing he could be right, Chloe set the glasses on the lab table and gave the substitute teacher a glance as she walked to her stool, which was, unfortunately, next to Blayne.

As soon as everyone was seated, the woman in the tight, short outfit, turned towards them, a bright smile on her face. "My name is Natalie French, and I will be substituting for Dr. Gregory." There was a pause as she picked up a mantis mounted in a clear plastic box. "His notes tell me you were right in the middle of insect life. The praying mantis is a _fascinating_ creature. Forced to live alone. Can anyone tell me why?"

Chloe was admittedly not impressed by the substitute teacher. Then again, she'd already had this class in Smallville, and knew all about this, so she doubted that anyone could have made her interested in the mantis or the other insects in the animal kingdom.

Noticing everyone squirming in their seats, she sighed and answered. "They're cannibals."

Everyone in the class looked disgusted.

"Oh, well, it's hardly their fault!" Natalie laughed at everyone's reaction. "It's the way nature designed them: noble, solitary and prolific. Over 1800 species worldwide, and in nearly all of them the female is larger _and_ more aggressive than the male."

"Nothing wrong with an aggressive female." Chloe mumbled, opening her text book, not noticing the looks Ms. French and Blayne both gave her at that comment.

Blayne smirked, leaning closer to Chloe. "How did Baby Winchester manage to snag a catch like you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him before returning her attention to her book, deciding that that wasn't even worth her breath in answering.

The substitute teacher picked up her notebook and started walking around the room. "The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate…" her gaze went over the males of the class. "…to fertilize them. Once he's played his part, she covers the eggs in a protective sack and attaches it to a leaf or twig out of danger. Now, if she's done her job correctly, in a few months she'll have several hundred offspring."

Having made her way back to the front of the class she put down her book and leaned with her palms flat against the desk. "You know, we should make some model egg sacks for the science fair. Who would like to help me do that after school?"

All the boys raised their hands.

Even _Dean_ did.

Chloe rolled her eyes, along with nearly every girl in the class.

Show a couple of hormonal teen boys a cute face, tight clothes and flirty smile and you had an army of idiots at your disposal.

"Good!" Ms. French was obviously pleased as she sat down and continued their lesson.

Chloe found herself answering most of the questions since no one else had done their homework or knew about the subject, and by the time the class was over and she was heading with Dean to the cafeteria Chloe felt drained from having talked so much.

"She was all over me." Dean grinned confidently as they waited in the line, slowly moving along and getting their food. "It's probably my natural good looks and smoky magnetism."

"It _could_ be your humility as well." Chloe snarked.

"What humility?" He asked, confused.

"_Exactly_."

Blayne came up next to Dean, placing a ridiculous amount of food on his tray. "Gotta carb up for my one-on-one with Miss French today." He announced smugly at the other male, rubbing it in. "When's yours? Oh, right. _Tomorrow_. You came in second, I came in first. Guess that's what they call natural selection." He was _way_ too happy about this. "Who's the main man on campus _now_?"

Dean snorted as he watched Blayne walk away. "Who's being used as a _warm up_ to the main act?" He called out.

Blayne paused and glared at him before walking away, not half as smug as he'd been moments before.

"_I'm_ the main man on campus." Dean grinned smugly to himself. He went to get some utensils, and as he walked back Cordelia came through the exit and bumped into him.

"Watch we're you're going, _Neanderthal_!" She snapped, apparently still touchy about whatever they'd been arguing about last night.

The brunette went behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers. "Medically prescribed lunch." She told them in her I'm-Superior-Than-You-So-Why-Are-You-Breathing-My-Air kinda way. "My doctor ships it daily…I'll only be here for as long as I can hold my breath." She opened a refrigerator and then let out a loud scream.

Chloe and Dean shared a look before dropping their trays and hurrying to her side, both freezing to a halt as they stared inside, horrified at what was hanging in the fridge.

"His head! His _head_!" Cordelia screamed hysterically, bringing her hands to her face. "Oh, my God! Where's his _head_?!?"

Brown eyes rolled back in her head, knees buckled, and Cordelia passed out on the floor.

No one even _noticed_.

"What---what is---what--?" Dean stammered, eyes wide as he stared, wide-eyed, at the headless body strung up in the refrigerator.

But Chloe already knew who it was.

She'd read the name on the body's lab coat.

"Dr. Gregory."

She was still in that same state of shock when everyone congregated in the library, both her and Buffy sitting on the steps leading up to where the book shelves were, Dean and Sam standing anxiously by the table.

Giles poured a glass of water and brought it over to Buffy. The Slayer had been very shook up about the happening. Dr. Gregory had been the only teacher who hadn't looked at her as if waiting for her to burn down something else or do something heinously delinquent.

Giles bent to his knees and handed the glass to Buffy. "Here. Drink this."

"No, thank you." And yet Buffy mechanically reached for the glass and took a sip of the water.

Dean paced back and forth on the floor, agitated. "I've never seen…"

Giles looked back at Dean.

"I mean," Dean stopped, visibly shaken as he ran a hand over his shortly cropped hair. "I've never seen anything like…that was _new_."

"I just don't get it." Sam looked up from where he was leaning against the railing. "Who would want to hurt Dr. Gregory? All the students liked him!"

"He didn't have any enemies on the staff either, at least none that I'm aware of." Giles sighed, standing, face troubled. "He was a civilized man…I liked him."

"Me too." Buffy whispered.

"We're going to find out who did this." Chloe announced, determined. "And we're going to stop them."

"Count on it." Buffy whispered.

"What do we know?" Giles asked, knowing the best thing they could all do was immerse themselves into the case.

"Oh, not a lot, um…" Buffy sniffled and wiped a tear from her nose.

"He was killed here on campus." Chloe volunteered the information. "I'm guessing the last day we saw him."

"How do you work that out?" Giles asked her.

"He didn't change his clothing." She answered, looking up at him.

"This is a question that no one particularly wants to hear," Sam sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "But where did they put his _head_?"

"You're right." Dean made a face. "I _didn't_ want to hear that."

"Angel wanted me to warn Buffy that something was coming." Chloe reminded everyone from where she was sitting, hands clasped in front of her. "What if it isn't a coincidence and what he warned us about is what took Dr. Gregory's head?"

"I don't know." Giles took off his glasses and pressed a hand to his forehead. "I've been trying to gather more information about the Master, our, uh, local vampire king. There was one oblique reference to a, a vampire who displeased the Master and cut his hand off in penance."

"He cut it off and replaced it with a _fork_?" Buffy made a face at Giles.

"That's not very intimidating." Dean backed her up.

"I don't know what he replaced it with." Giles replied a little tiredly.

"Why would he come after Dr. Gregory?" Sam made a face.

"That's just it. I'm not certain he _did_." Giles walked over to the counter, picking up a newspaper and returning with it. "There was an incident two nights ago involving a homeless person in Weatherly Park. He was practically shredded, but, uh, nothing like Dr. Gregory."

Buffy took the newspaper from him and skimmed through the article. "Fork Guy doesn't do heads."

"Not historically." Giles shook his head.

Buffy frowned. "And Dr. Gregory's blood wasn't drained either."

Dean snorted, shaking his head. "So there's something _else_ out there? Besides Silverwareman?" He let out an aggravated sigh. "Oh, this is _fun_, we're on Monster Island."

"We're on a Hellmouth." Chloe turned her gaze on him. "It's a center of mystical convergence. It's almost the same thing."

Dean sighed again.

"Well, unpleasant things _do_ tend to gravitate here, it's true, but, uh, we don't know if there's anything besides this chap." He tapped the newspaper Buffy was still looking at. "He's still our likely suspect." He then turned and looked at Chloe. "Unless that special connection you have with the mystical energies of the Hellmouth is telling you any different?"

Chloe made a face at him. "You make it sound like we're _dating_ or something." She rolled her eyes, hugging herself tighter. "And _no_, ever since the whole Mrs. Madison thing it's been kinda turned off."

"Which is a good thing." Sam put in.

"We don't need her fainting on us every other day." Dean added. "Especially not with The Mighty Utensil somewhere out there."

She glared at them, but it _was_ true. Whenever she fully connected with the Hellmouth energy she tended to overload and 'shut off', fainting dead away wherever she was.

They'd been looking for spells or charms or something to use to somehow lessen the effect the Hellmouth had on her, if not stop it altogether, but so far they'd found nothing.

Nada.

_Zip_.

So she was cautiously enjoying this time of respite.

"So this homeless dude was killed in Weatherly Park." Buffy murmured softly to herself.

"_Buffy_." Giles turned immediately at that, advancing towards her. "I know you're upset, but, uh, this is no time to go hunting, not until we know more." He hesitated a moment before bringing his hands down on her shoulders. "Please promise me you won't do anything rash?"

Buffy smiled shakily up at Giles. "Cross my heart."

Chloe wondered if she was the only one who could see the slight guilt in those eyes.

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"You're going to spend the night at the plant?" Chloe looked out of the window, one hand keeping the curtain to the side and one hand on the cellular pressed to her ear as she spoke to her dad.

"_Yes honey, sorry, but there's a lot of work I need to sort out_." Gabe sighed, sounding tired and harassed. "_See you tomorrow_."

"You too, dad, and be careful." Hanging up, Chloe frowned and continued to look out of the window at the darkness around the house, wondering if Fork Guy was out there.

She also worried about Buffy.

Even though she mightn't have known the Slayer for very long, she'd gotten good at reading her, and Chloe knew that Buffy was out in Weatherly Park, hunting Fork Guy right this minute.

With a sigh, she closed the curtains and made sure that all of the windows and doors were locked before she made her way up to her room and bathed. The young blonde changed into a large shirt and boxers, readying to go to bed, when she noticed a dark outline through the curtains to her balcony door.

Going cold in fear, Chloe quickly opened her side table and pulled out the stake she always kept there as she slowly edged towards the balcony.

The figure on the other side was definitely male.

But did it have a _fork_?

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe reached for the curtain and pulled it across, stake-filled hand held high, only to let out a gasp of relief when she recognized the person on the other side of the glass door.

Lowering the stake and throwing it back onto her bed, she glared at the male before unlocking the balcony door and hugging herself as the cold night air rushed at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know." Angel admitted, looking awkward.

"You don't know." Chloe raised an eyebrow, giving him a once more. "So this isn't something about Fork Guy?"

"Fork Guy?" Angel tilted his head slightly as he watched her, obviously confused.

"Fork Guy." She pointed towards his stomach, remembering the ugly cuts.

"_Oh_," he nodded, finally understanding, a small smile lighting his face as he ducked his head and looked up at her through his lashes. "For future references, it's more like a _jumbo claw_ than a_ fork_."

"_Good_, you're learning not to be so _cryptic_." She grinned, not sure why he was here, but still kinda relieved he was. She hadn't wanted to be alone in the house, not with Jumboclawman out there.

"I try my best." Angel assured her with mock seriousness.

He must have heard something she hadn't, because he narrowed his eyes and looked behind him.

"What? What is it?" Chloe asked, eyes going to the darkness.

"Nothing." He answered a little too fast.

All of a sudden Chloe didn't feel safe with the balcony door open. "Are you coming in or are you going to stay there all night?"

He paused. "Is that an invitation?"

Raising her eyebrow, wondering at the wording, she nodded. "Sure, come on in." Stepping out of the way, Chloe closed and locked the door behind Angel as he entered, and then turned to him. "You're not here for no reason, so why don't you tell me why you were outside my balcony door like Romeo visiting Juliet?"

Angel didn't smile, only looked around her room curiously.

She should be freaked, and yet Chloe was only amused by the stark curiosity on his face.

"Angel?" She prompted.

He turned to look back at her before he remembered what she's asked and nodded, clearing his throat. "I had another run in with, uh, _Fork Guy_ tonight."

All amusement left her in seconds. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Was more careful this time, he didn't realize I was there."

"Did this happen in Weatherly Park? Buffy's there now."

"Yeah, but he won't be there again tonight, not after what happened."

"After what happened?" Chloe frowned. "What _happened_?"

"I don't really know, that's why I came here." Angel gave her room another quick glance before returning his attention on her. "I was following him, and this woman was heading home. He took one look at her and ran screaming for cover. Rushed to the closest manhole and disappeared as if the devil were on his trail."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "He _ran away_?"

Angel nodded, obviously bothered by this. "He was petrified."

"Of some _woman_?" Chloe just couldn't believe it. "Do you have any idea who she could be?"

"No, I've been around that neighborhood for a while and I've never seen her before, she's new—must have just moved here."

_Just moved here…?_

The blonde suddenly paused. "She wouldn't happen to be curvy, brunette, with dark eyes and wearing a ruby necklace?"

Angel's gaze had strayed to a picture frame on her desk with a picture of her sitting on Clark's lap and giving a laughing Pete a friendly noogie, but when he heard the description he turned his attention on her, eyes narrowed. "How did you know that?"

"Our professor was just found, without a head, and we got a substitute teacher who just moved here. I didn't like her, but I thought it was just her flaunting her sexuality in the boys faces." Chloe began to pace. "But if an undead creature that can shave with its _hand_ is scared of her---what _are_ vampires scared of?"

Angel looked a bit uncomfortable. "Not many things…and not _substitute_ _teachers_, as a rule."

"I'll let Giles and the others know tomorrow." Chloe decided, sitting down on the bed. "We're going to have to keep an eye on Ms. French."

"Good," Angel strode towards the balcony door.

"So that's it?" Chloe asked, standing. "You come to my home, tell me this, and then you're gone?"

Angel paused, looking somewhat confused. "Am I supposed to do something else? Am I doing this wrong?"

Chloe wondered what exactly '_this'_ was. "You know, it would be easier if I knew how to get into contact with you, in case we need something."

Angel's easy smile was back on his face. "I'll be around.

"You mean you plan on making sneaking up onto my balcony a habit?" Chloe snarked, hands on her hips. "I know that the fact that you managed to climb up here is impressive, don't get me wrong, but my father will probably fill you with lead if he caught you----or force you to marry me."

Angel snorted in amusement and then his eyes widened, as if surprised at having heard that sound coming from himself.

Her cellular began to ring and she hurried towards it, blinking when she saw Buffy's name on the caller I.D. Chloe turned to inform Angel of this but found her room empty, the balcony door open, the curtains blowing in the wind.

"Who _are_ you?" She whispered before going to the balcony door, locking it shut, and answering the insistently ringing device. "Hey Buffy, you just missed Angel."

That led to Chloe telling her what Angel had said, and then Buffy admitting that she'd finally found Fork Guy around the time this had happened and she'd seen the happening herself. But she's noticed something Angel hadn't.

"She craned her neck." Chloe frowned, lying down in bed, lights on.

"No, she didn't _crane her neck_." Buffy huffed. "We're talking full-on Exorcist twist. 180 degrees turn."

"_Ouch_." She ran her fingers through her hair. "You called Giles already, right?"

"Ah-huh." Buffy replied. "But he doesn't know of any creature that strikes terror in a vampire's heart." She hesitated. "Did Angel have any ideas as to what we're dealing with?"

"If he did, he didn't share it with me." Chloe grumbled. "You know we don't call him Cryptic Guy for nothing." She played with the fabric of her sheets. "I'm not sleepy, so I'm going to do some research. There has to be information out there about things that can turn their heads all around."

"Nothing human can do that." Buffy reasoned.

"No, nothing human." And suddenly Chloe's mind was working rapidly, thoughts and memories flying by quickly as she sat up in bed like a bolt. "But there _are_ some _insects_ that can."

"Insects?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Just ignore me for now and let me get back to you on that tomorrow." Chloe announced, thoughts a whirlwind as she jumped out of bed and hurried to where her laptop was resting on her desk. "I gotta go Buffy, sleep tight, okay?"

"Ok." Buffy sounded curious but resigned. "I already called the Winchesters. We're all congregating at the library tomorrow morning before classes to discuss this. Bring anything you find."

"Yes captain." Chloe mock saluted before sitting down and booting her computer. "See you." With that she hung up and waited for her computer to finish booting up.

Somehow she knew she wasn't going to have a moment's sleep tonight.

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"The preying mantis can rotate its head 180 degrees while waiting for its next meal to walk by." Thanks to not sleeping last night, Chloe had overslept and missed most of her classes of the day and the meeting in the morning, so she'd gone to the library after school ended to present her findings. "Well, that, and an owl, but she's definitely a preying mantis."

There was silence.

Sam looked up at her, obviously trying to figure a way to word what was on his mind. "Well, uhm, Miss French is sort of big…for a bug."

"And she is, by and large," Giles added. "Woman shaped."

"Fact _One_: Only the preying mantis can rotate its head like that in the insect kingdom." Chloe leaned down on the table, palms flat. "Fact _Two_: A pretty whacked-out male vampire is scared to death of her, so don't try and delude yourselves into thinking that she's normal." Her eyes narrowed on the males while Buffy nodded in agreement. "Fact _Three_: Her fashion sense screams _predator_."

"It's the shoulder pads." Buffy added helpfully.

"Exactly." Chloe nodded in approval before continuing. "And _Fact Four_: Female preying mantises look for males when they want to lay and fertilize their eggs. And when the male and her are in the middle of the act…she _bites off his head_."

Everyone went pale.

"Doctor Gregory." Dean winced.

"If you're right, then she'd have to be a shape shifter or a perception distorter." Giles stood up, suddenly anxious. "On a helpful note, I had a chum at Oxford, Carlyle, advanced degrees in entomology mythology."

"Entoma-who?" Buffy blinked.

"Bugs and fairy tales." Sam supplied easily.

Dean shook his head at his brother. "You are _such_ a _geek_."

Sam rolled his eyes.

Giles continued. "If I recall correctly, poor old Carlyle, just before he went mad, claimed there was some beast…"

The library's computer beeped and Sam looked down, eyes narrowing. "Not good."

"What?" Dean asked, getting up and going to stand behind his brother, looking at the screen.

"I hacked into the school's system to see if I could get some more information on our Miss French, and Blayne's mom just called the school. He never came home last night."

"The boy who worked with Miss French yesterday?" Giles asked.

"Yeah," Dean frowned, looking wary and on edge. "And I have to help her in a couple of minutes."

"Cancel it, find some way out of it." Buffy ordered, standing, getting into action. "She's not biting your head off, no matter _how_ annoying you are."

Dean ignored her, turning to Sam. "Hey, Geek Boy, hack into the coroner's office."

Sam sent his brother a surprised look but quickly began typing into the keyboard. "What am I looking for?"

"Autopsy on Dr. Gregory." Dean replied, still looking over his shoulder at the screen. "I was trying to figure out these marks that I saw on his corpse, and now that Chloe mentioned the whole bug theory, I'm thinking they're teeth marks."

"Good thinking." Chloe approved of the plan, exchanging a look with Dean, before turning to Giles. "You were saying something about a beast?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I just need to make one transatlantic telephone call." He got up to go to his office and then stopped, turning back. "Um, this computer invasion Sam's performing on the coroner's office…one, one assumes it is entirely legal?"

"_Entirely_." Dean nodded.

"Of course!" Buffy exclaimed.

"One hundred per cent." Sam reassured.

Giles tore his dubious gaze from them and turned his suspicious expression on a smirking Chloe before sighing and shaking his head. "_Right_." He turned his back on them as he headed towards his office, mumbling to himself. "Wasn't here, didn't see it, couldn't have stopped them."

Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling.

"I just can't _believe_ I thought a _bug_ was _hot_!" Dean declared vehemently as he left Sam to continue with the hacking, looking between Buffy and Chloe in disgust. "A _bug_! And yet I thought there was this certain chemical thing between her and me."

"Well, actually there probably was." Chloe admitted. "It's called a _pheromone_. It's a chemical attractant that insects give off."

"How do you know all these things?" Buffy asked.

Chloe shrugged. "I did this class in Smallville already before transferring, plus, I actually _pay_ attention in class when the teacher's teaching."

Buffy and Dean both looked away at that statement, sheepish expressions on their faces.

"Frankly, madam, I haven't the faintest idea what time it is, nor do I care." They could hear Giles from his office. "Now, unlock his cell, unstrap him, and bring him to the telephone immediately. This is a matter of life and death!"

Dean turned to Buffy. "I need you to go to Miss French and make some excuse as to why I can't be her dinner tonight."

"Okay, I'll paraphrase that." Buffy nodded before stalking out of the library.

Sam continued typing. "Got it! Coroner's report, complete with…" He made up his face. "Color pictures."

Dean went back to his brother and looked at the pictures. "They _are_ teeth marks…"

Chloe, feeling a little useless at the moment, hugged herself and went to look out of the window.

Really, more and more she was beginning to doubt what she was doing being a part of this group. She wasn't athletically strong like Dean, or incredibly intelligent like Sam, and she definitely wasn't a Slayer like Buffy. So what exactly did she bring into this team except for some conversations with a silent, informed guy (he could talk to _anyone_ so Angel didn't really count) and her fainting spells when the Hellmouth got angsty?

At least…at least in _Smallville_ she knew her place. She was Research Girl, the one who figured out who was the meteor freak of the week and how to stop him/her.

It made her miss home again so very much.

And she wondered what Clark and Pete were doing at such a time as this.

"I—I understand, Carlyle. Yes…" Giles' voice reached her. "I-I'll take ever precaution. Uh, absolutely, i-i-it sounds exactly like the creature you described. Y-you were right all along about everything." He paused, listening to the voice on the other side of the line. "Well, n-no, you _weren't_ right about your mother coming back as a _Pekinese_, but…uh…Try to rest, old man." He stood up, obviously itching to end the conversation. "Yes…_ta_! Bye now!"

He hung up and came out of his office. "Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswolds. Then he went hunting for it."

"It being…?" Chloe prompted.

"Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis." Giles answered. "This type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or _virgin-thief_, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um…"

Dean looked pale in horror.

"Basically," Giles continued. "The She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest."

"Virgins? But that can't be right." Sam made a face. "Dean's not---."

Everyone turned to Dean and saw the pale look on his face.

Sam's mouth fell open. "I don't believe it."

"Shut up!" Dean snapped, blushing in humiliation. "You breathe one word about this to anyone and I'll---!"

"You're a _virgin_?" Chloe pressed, unable to believe what she was hearing. "But what about all the girls who boasting about your sexual prowess?"

"I'm a school legend." Dean grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. "It would make them more popular if they said they slept with me."

"Teenagers today." Giles bemoaned.

"I just don't believe it." Sam shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "This means _Blayne's_ a virgin _too_."

Dean's eyes widened, finally seeing a good side to this whole conversation. "That's right! Blaynie-boy's a Scarlet V!"

"Okay, okay, enough with the unholy glee." Chloe walked around the table to stand in front of Giles. "So this She-Mantis is breeding and we need to find her nest and snuff her. Any tips on the snuffing part?"

"Uh, Carlyle recommends cleaving all body parts with a sharp blade."

"Slice and Dice." Dean grinned. "I'm liking this plan already."

Chloe and Sam rolled their eyes at the same time while Giles just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, whatever you do," Giles spoke once more. "It had better be certain and swift. This beast is extremely dangerous."

"Your friend Carlyle faced it and he's still around." Sam pointed out.

"Yes, in a _straitjacket_," Giles reminded. "Howling his innards out day and night."

The three youngsters gave each other nervous expressions.

"We've got problems, people!" Buffy announced as she threw open the library doors and stormed inside. "Miss French didn't wait for Dean. When he didn't show up she got another hormones on legs to volunteer to help her. A couple of students saw them walking out of the school together carrying some supplies so they could do the work at her home."

"Or so she could have dinner in bed." Chloe summarized.

"_Exactly_." Buffy declared, before turning to Dean. "You were her first choice as the main course. She must have given you the address to her home."

Dean paused before beginning to pat down his pockets and then retrieved a folded piece of paper. "Here it is!"

"Good." Buffy turned to Giles. "Do we know what she is and how to kill her?"

"We do." He nodded. "She-mantis---slice and dice."

"Slice and dice, I approve." Buffy put her hands on her hips. "Now we need to grab some machetes, and head towards that house before that boy finds out that Miss French's idea of a _love bite_ is completely different from his!"

"Before we go in all guns a blazing, we need one more thing." Chloe announced, drawing the attention back at her. "We need to record bat sonar, and _fast_."

Sam paused, and then grinned. "You're a genius."

"Thank you, I thought so myself." Chloe smiled.

"Can someone clue the rest of us in?" Dean asked.

Sam turned to his brother. "Bats eat them. The mantis hears sonar, its entire nervous system goes kaplooey…making the slicing and dicing _much_ easier."

"Where are we going to find the…?" Giles began.

"In the vid library?" Chloe was surprised he even had to ask, pointing towards the aisle in question. "Go!" She then turned to Buffy and Dean. "You two, handle the armory. Grabbing a couple of cans of bug spray can't hurt either."

They nodded and left.

"What about me, chief?" Sam asked from the computer.

"Ready yourself, soldier." Chloe couldn't help but give him a little smile at that title. "We're about to go to war."

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If they had doubted whether the non descriptive house in the neighborhood was truly the home of a humanoid, virgin-eating _bug_, the scream for help somewhat muffled due to it coming from the basement was enough to let them know that they'd come to the right place.

Buffy smashed the basement window and slid within rapidly, Dean and Sam hurrying inside behind her, and Giles right behind them. Chloe had been about to do the same thing when she heard the sound of screaming coming from the Park.

Weatherly Park.

She hesitated, looking down below where the sounds of fighting could be heard, and inhuman screeches, back to the park. Back and back again until she groaned and turned around, taking off towards the park, knowing that she was about to get herself killed in a _horrible_ way.

A sliced up woman ran passed Chloe, holding to her side and trying to get as far away from the sounds of fighting as she could.

Chloe stopped, turned to look at the departing victim, and then turned to look at the direction of the grunts and hisses. She took in a deep breath, tightened her hold on her machete, and hurried forwards, breaking through some shrubs to stumble across an animalistic looking vampire with a hand that was iron claws fighting with Angel.

She was frozen in shock at the grace and agility in Angel's every movement. In comparison the vampire was large and klutzy, having none of the panther-like grace that Angel possessed.

Angel moved fluidly like liquid, dodging the swipes of the iron claws, his hand tight around a stake, waiting, watching for the perfect opening, for when the vampire did something stupid and left himself open and vulnerable.

Chloe found herself fascinated as she watched him fight.

Not even _Buffy_ managed to impress her this way.

And she was a _Slayer._

Angel backed away from another attack and didn't notice an upturned root, tripping over it and landing on the ground.

The creature raised his claw to bring it down on Angel, and Chloe found herself reacting, not even realizing she'd moved until she was behind the monster and swung the machete, its blade cutting the creature's hand clean off.

Blood spurted onto her face and the monster screamed in pain as he cradled the stub that'd once been a clawed hand to his chest, looking up at her with a hiss. But before he could charge at the girl who'd gone still in shock, Angel was back on his feet, staking the bastard through the back.

With a shriek the vampire exploded into ashes.

"Are you okay?" Angel turned to Chloe, placing his hands on her shoulders, giving her a little shake when all she did was look up at him unseeingly, eyes wide. "_Chloe_! Are. You. Okay?"

Finally blinking, Chloe nodded, slowly. "I—I chopped off his _hand_."

"Thanks for that, by the way." Now that he knew she was okay he let go of her and took a couple of careful steps away. "Well, uh, that's one less vampire walking around and making a nuisance of himself."

"I guess we have to thank you for that." Chloe dropped her machete and hugged herself, shaking away the memory of the sound of metal cutting through bone. _And my father brought me here to have a safe, normal life. _

"What are you doing here?" Angel finally asked.

Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered. "The woman you saw Fork Guy run away from? She's a She-Mantis, lives back there," she pointed behind them at the house barely visible through the trees. "Buffy and us came to stop her from snacking on more male students."

"Oh."

"_CHLOE?"_ They could hear Buffy calling for her, a little bit hysteric.

"CHLO!" Sam's voice echoed followed by Dean's.

"I better get back there before they have a heart attack." She began to back away slowly.

"You're forgetting your machete." Angel picked it up and held it up for her.

"Oh, right." She hurried forwards and placed her hand on his, not prepared for the near electric jolt that raced up and down her body at the contact.

And then Angel was pulling his hand away, leaving the machete in hers, looking surprised and wary.

"CHLOE!" Giles called out.

"I—I have to go." With that Chloe turned and ran away, trying to calm the fast beating of her heart.

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**Review?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.**

_Wanna thank Shadow Girl, SriHellgirl25, DiscoLemonadeDiva, vamp1987, ChamberlinofMusic, violent-smurf, Veronica and Mrs. Izzy Whitlock-Hale for reviewing the previous chapter._

Note: This chapter is purposely short since the episode was used to bring out a point I don't need bringing out in this story, and I have only used the important parts needed to further the story.

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Chloe groaned as she tossed and turned in bed, body burning up. She hadn't been able to warn the others, not before suddenly the mystic energy of the Hellmouth had reared up and she'd fainted…again.

Only this time she'd been bedridden, delirious, with a high fever that had her father home from work trying to lower.

_Chloe opened her eyes and looked around her, confused, wondering where she was, why it was so dark, and why it looked so familiar. _

_And then the Master walked right through her, slamming a book down on his lectern. _

_Chloe's eyes widened as she realized where she'd seen this place before. It was the night of the Harvest, when she'd seen the Master in his lair, about to be freed._

_**I'm in the Master's Lair**__._

_For a moment she was terrified, but then she realized that the Master had walked __**through**__ her, which meant that like the last time she'd seen him, it'd been a vision, and he couldn't see her._

_She was safe._

_The Master opened the book and began to read. "'And there will be a time of crisis, of worlds hanging in the balance. And in this time shall come the Anointed, the Master's great warrior. And the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.' As it is written, so shall it be." _

_He picked the book and began to walk. "'Five shall die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise. The Brethren of Aurelius shall greet him and usher him to his immortal destiny.'" He stopped before one of the brethren standing there. "As it is written, so shall it be. 'And one of the brethren shall go out hunting the night before and get himself killed, because he couldn't wait to finish his job before he ate.' Oh, wait."_

_The master grabbed one of the brethren by his throat. "That's not written anywhere." He lifted the vampire from his feet. "The Anointed will be my greatest weapon against the Slayer! If you fail to bring him to me, if you allow that girl to stop you…" he threw the vampire into a coffin. "Here endeth the lesson."_

_Slamming the book shut, he walked off into the shadows._

_Chloe looked back and forth between the departing figure and the nervous vampires, before hurrying after the Master._

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Buffy pouted where she sat in the library.

Last night she'd tried to impress Giles with her Slaying abilities but he'd only had ways to improve her, not one word of praise. She'd managed to easily dust some vamp and Giles had been more interested in the ring it'd left behind than in her _or_ her killer outfit.

He felt the ring might be important and Buffy knew that Giles was almost always right, but that didn't mean she wasn't bored and somewhat ticked at him.

Also, Chloe was home sick, her father saying that she was down with a fever, so it wasn't like Buffy could entertain herself with the girl who was rapidly becoming her best friend.

No.

She was surrounded by _men_.

And while any other girl would be a puddle of smug goo at the moment at being in the presence of so many handsome men, Buffy was a Slayer, thus she wasn't any other girl, and she was pouting and a little bored as she looked over the ring lazily.

"That symbol on the ring…" Giles announced from where he was leafing through a book. "I believe it's the rune for fidelity, but, uh, it doesn't connect with any of the sects that I've studied."

"What about this?" Buffy asked, showing him the ring. "On the inside. It's a sun and three stars. Haven't we seen that somewhere?"

"A sun and three stars?" Sam asked from where he was looking through a book.

Buffy nodded.

"Let me see." Giles took the ring and looked at the inside closely. "No, I-I don't think this, um, represents any…"

"Wait, it's right here." Dean stood, bringing the book he'd been leafing through. "Sun and three stars." He handed it to Giles.

Buffy smirked. "_Told_ you it looked familiar."

"Oh, the Order of Aurelius." He blinked in surprised. "You're right."

"Ooh, two points for the Slayer," Buffy gloated teasingly. "While the Watcher has _yet_ to score!"

A cute, broody guy named Owen entered the library and approached them. Buffy looked him over from where she sat on Giles' desk, deciding that once upon a time she might have gone crazy over him.

Thankfully those days were over and she was a mature Slayer who knew how to prioritize and who wasn't interested in boys.

She was interested in _men_.

Or, err, a _man_.

More like an _idiot_, really, since he had yet to realize that she was interested.

"What do you want?" Giles asked the boy, not meanly, but surprised.

"A book?" Owen asked.

"Oh!" Giles replied, eyes wide.

Buffy grinned, her gaze on the librarian. "See, this is a school, and we have students, and they check out books, and then they _learn things_."

Giles grinned back at her, amused. "I was beginning to suspect that was a myth."

Owen looked between the two of them, sent a look in Dean and Sam's direction, and then shook his head before returning his attention to Giles. "I lost my Emily. Dickinson."

"Ah yes, she was good, for an _American_." Giles announced as he led Owen to the section where he could find the book he was looking for.

Buffy, noticing the glare Dean was sending Owen, raised and eyebrow. "What's up with you? He steal your popularity or something?"

"Nothing." Dean grumbled, lowering his angered gaze back on the book.

"Owen's Cordelia's newest boyfriend." Sam supplied, eyes on whatever it was he was looking at, ignoring his brother's angered glare. "Dean's been having an on again off again thing with Cordelia for _years_, and while they swear that they will never get back together---god _help_ any boy or girl who thinks they can get with either!"

"Cordelia Chase?" Buffy made up her nose. "Winchester, you have _horrible_ taste!"

"Shut _up_, Slayer." Dean growled. "At least _I_ am not a _grave robber_."

Sam nearly choked on his laughter.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at the elder Winchester. "I'll have you know Rupert Giles is a man in his _prime_!"

Giles returned after tending to Owen, and frowned, leaning his hip against the desk Buffy was sitting upon. "Getting back to the issue at hand." He announced, folding his arms over his chest, having _no_ idea what the youngsters had been commenting on seconds ago. "The Order of Aurelius is a very old sect. If they're here, it's for a good reason."

Sam went still. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Buffy slid off of the table, rounding on him. "I don't like uh-oh. Uh-oh is _never_ good!"

"What?" Dean asked, turning to his brother.

"I know what they're doing." Sam looked up at them. "There's a violent and disturbing prophecy about to be fulfilled."

"The Order of Aurelius." Giles spoke.

Sam nodded. "I just looked at the writing of Aurelius himself, and he prophesized that the brethren of his order would come to the Master and bring him the Anointed."

"I _knew_ that freak was being so quiet for a reason!" Dean announced, growling, in a generally bad mood since Owen's appearance moments ago.

"But who's the Anointed One?" Giles frowned, taking off his glasses.

"The text is a little vague on that." Sam admitted sheepishly. "But it gives reference to him being something like a warrior? I'm not too sure. All it _does_ say clearly is that he shall rise from the ashes of the Five on the evening of the thousandth day after the Advent of Septus."

"Well, we'll be ready whenever it is." Buffy shrugged.

"It's _tonight_." Sam interjected.

"_Tonight_?" Dean exclaimed.

Sam nodded.

Buffy sighed. "I was going to go to Chloe's to see how she was doing, but maybe I can do that after slaying Anointed Boy? If it's not too late?"

"Buffy, this is no ordinary vampire, I _doubt_ it will be as easy as you think it will be." Giles responded seriously. "But no matter what we _have_ to stop him before he reaches the Master."

"I know, I know." Buffy nodded. "But it won't be just me. You and the Winch Bros are gonna be there too. I think we can take on _one_ vampire on our own with enough time to go visit Chloe and see how she'd doing."

"She's right." Dean nodded, assured. "I'm pumped and ready for battle!"

Which was why when, hours later, they all sat on a large gravestone in the cemetery, everyone was bored out of their wits, all the adrenaline of evil Anointed butt-kicking having drained out of them after hours of eventless waiting.

"Maybe I miscalculated." Sam admitted, sighing, looking at his watch once more.

"No, I went over your calculations, they were correct." Giles shook his head, adamant that this was the correct time.

"Come _on_ English." Dean tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, looking around them at the peaceful cemetery. "We've been here _hours_, I'm _stiff_. It's even too late to go and visit Chloe! _Nothing's_ going to happen tonight."

"You're probably right." Giles sighed, standing, helping Buffy to her feet as well. "We've waited here long enough."

The brothers stood as well, wincing at their sore muscles.

"Besides, there aren't any fresh graves." Buffy announced giving the cemetery another once over. "Who's gonna rise?"

"No one tonight." Dean insisted.

"Five shall die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise." Giles quoted, frown touching his face as they began to walk slowly back to the car.

"I was _sure_ it was tonight." Sam shook his head, hands in his pockets.

"Well, at least Chloe didn't have to wait here with us," Buffy announced. "She's snug in bed at home, dreaming of hunky guys and distant Caribbean beaches."

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_Chloe looked around her, confused and disoriented. One second she'd been following the Master around his lair and the next she was standing in a small bus. The passengers were few and quiet._

_A small boy sat next to his mother, playing with his toy plane._

_"A pale horse emerged with death as its rider." A man behind them, with a crazed look in his eyes, looked at the boy, his face a sneer. "You will be judged. You __**will**__ be judged."_

_"And found __**cuckoo**__." Chloe frowned at him, rolling her eyes, wondering how this was relevant to the Master._

_The man got up and stood in the aisle. "That day's gonna bring fire. Fire comin' down! Judgment!" He turned to the boy and his mother, who were both nervous at this point. "Don't think you're ready, ready to look upon him. If there's sin in there, there's sin all around. It's a liquid."_

_"A liquid? __**Really**__?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. "You couldn't have found a better description than __**that**__?"_

_"On that day there won't be anybody tellin' us what to do or why we're doin' it. You can't prepare. On that day…"_

_The driver had had enough, looking at the man through the rearview mirror. "Hey, you gotta sit down, okay?"_

_The man sneered at him. "Are you willing to stand with the righteous?" But he sat down nonetheless._

_Sensing something, Chloe looked to the road in time to recognize one of the brethren as he stepped in front of the bus._

_The driver hit the brakes and slammed into the vampire. The bus began to swerve, running through a sign and hitting a pole, which brought it to a stop._

_Chloe blinked and she was out of the bus, in the darkness, sensing the rest of the brethren in the shadows with her, waiting._

_"No." She whispered, realizing this was a trap, an ambush. This had something to do with the Anointed. It just _had_ to!_

_The driver got out of the bus and hurried to check the vampire playing dead on the road. "Are you all right?"_

_"Don't do it." Chloe pleaded although she knew that he couldn't hear her. "Please…"_

_The driver knelt down next to the vampire. "Can you move?"_

_The vampire then opened his eyes, his true demon face showing, before he grabbed the driver by the throat and began choking him._

_That was when the others rushed from the darkness. One punched through a window, grabbed the somewhat psychotic man by the throat, pulled him out, and bit him._

_The vampires then all climbed into the bus to get at the other people._

_"No!" Chloe screamed, trying to rush to the bus, remembering the little boy. "NO!" But she found she couldn't move forwards._

_Screams filled the night._

_The blonde collapsed to her knees on the pavement, crying into her palms as the scenery around her change once more back into that of the Master's Lair._

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Angel frowned.

He really knew he should be seeking out the Slayer, he really _should_, but the time he'd spoken to her had proven she was too mouthy and sarcastic and thought she was witty for some reason when she was only being mouthy and sarcastic and---wait, he'd thought that already, hadn't he?

Shaking his head, Angel once more found himself outside of the balcony of Chloe's bedroom. He was a little uneasy since her father's car was in the driveway tonight, something that he'd hardly ever seen during the few times he'd watched the house, and he wondered why it was that Mr. Sullivan was home.

And why _Chloe_ was home too.

Deciding to get that answer after getting the one to _why_ the Slayer hadn't stopped the slaying of the Five, Angel forced the balcony door open and stepped inside the dark room, frowning immediately when he saw Chloe.

The girl was in bed, sheets kicked all around her, body red and sweating, clothes sticking to her, tears making their way down her cheeks.

She was obviously horribly ill.

On instinct he reached the bed and leaned forwards, pressing his hand down on her forehead and all of a sudden he wasn't in her room anymore.

_Angel looked around him, confused._

_One minute he'd been in Chloe's bedroom and then…_

_"What are you doing here?" Chloe hissed at him._

_He turned to the angry blonde. "Me? What are __**you**__ doing here?"_

_Her eyes widened. "You can see me?"_

_He nodded, and wasn't prepared for her throwing herself at him. He staggered back slightly before steadying once more._

_"I can __**touch**__ you!" Chloe grinned up at him, her cheeks stained from tears shed. "I've been trapped in this pseudo vision for I don't know how long and you're the only one who can see me! Or touch me!" She then frowned. "Why is that? What are you doing here?"_

_"I'm not sure, exactly, but I think you're at fault." Angel admitted, letting go of her and putting a safe distance between them. "I came to your room to tell you that the Five---,"_

_"I know all about the Five, skip to the next part." Chloe interrupted._

_"So I, you're ill, running a fever." Angel explained, feeling as uncomfortably aware of himself as he always was while around this unusual girl. "I pressed my hand to your forehead to see how hot you were and the next minute I'm here."_

_"Touch." Chloe frowned. "Just like the night of the Harvest…"_

_They turn their attention to the Master as he reappeared, the brethren congregated and waiting for him to address them._

_"You have done well." The Master told them. "Everything is in place. When this night's work is done, I will have a mighty ally. I'll be one step closer to freeing myself from this…mystical prison." He felt his confines. "I've been trapped down here so long I've nearly forgotten what it's like on the surface… Well, there'll be time enough to remember when I rule it!"_

_"Dream on, ugly." Chloe narrowed her eyes at the Master._

_Angel had to admit, he was somewhat impressed._

_"If she tries to stop you, kill her." The Master instructed the brethren. "Give your own lives, but do not fail to bring the Anointed. I know you won't disappoint me."_

_Angel turned to Chloe, about to say something, when he was jerked out of the vision and found himself standing above her burning body, in Chloe's room once more._

Taking a couple of steps back from her, Angel turned to leave, when Chloe whimpered.

He stopped, his shoulders tense, before sighing and turning back to her. His gaze scanned the room before finding a bowl of water and a cloth on the side table and he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Reaching for the cloth he dipped it into the water and after squeezing out the excess liquid, rubbed it slowly, soothingly, on the forehead that was burning his hand slightly even through the cold, wet material.

Angel didn't understand _why_ he did it, but he just sat there, rubbing down her face and neck, changing the water when it got too warm, and only relaxing when her face wasn't scrunched up in agony anymore and her fever had broken.

_What is it about you_? He observed her now peaceful, sleeping face.

The sound of footsteps heading up the stairs broke him out of his thoughts and Angel hurried to the balcony, disappearing out into the shadows outside, well hidden by the time Chloe's father entered the room to check on her.

Angel knew he had a job to do, that he should be doing it, and yet he remained outside her home, watching over her sleep, and not understanding why he did it.

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The next day had been uneventful.

According to Chloe's dad the blonde still had a fever, though it was considerably lower, and she was still sleeping, but should be fine. He didn't advise Buffy to come over though, just in case it was something that could be caught.

Sure, she could understand Mr. Sullivan's reasons, but Buffy was beginning to _worry_ about Chloe, she wanted to see her!

Sitting in her living room, bored, she looked up when her doorbell rung. Her mother was working in the gallery late into the night, so she knew it wasn't _her_ forgetting her keys again…

Getting up, Buffy went to the door and blinked when she saw Giles, Sam and Dean on her doorstep. "What are you three doing here?" She asked, for a moment overloaded by the testosterone before her.

"We need to talk." Giles pushed the door completely open and came in, followed by the boys. "Sam's calculations may not have been as far off as thought." He held up a newspaper.

Buffy read it. "Five Die In Bus Accident?"

"Out of the ashes of Five shall rise the One. That's the prophecy." Sam reminded.

"And guess what, Slayer?" Dean folded his arms over his chest. "Five died last night like in the prophecy too!"

"In a _bus_ accident!" The blonde exclaimed, looking from one male to the other.

"I know it doesn't quite follow," Giles admitted. "But it's worth investigating. Look! Among the dead was Andrew Borba, whom the police sought for questioning in a double murder."

"_He _might be the Anointed One." Dean pointed out needlessly.

"The bodies are being taken to Sunnydale Funeral Home." Sam gave Buffy a mischievous grin. "_Tell_ me you haven't once thought about breaking into a funeral home before!"

Buffy pouted. "It hasn't been a part of my MUST DO list, but you're right, it _sounds_ interesting. And we shouldn't leave any stone unturned, right?"

"Right." The males agreed.

Buffy grinned. "Good! Let's go see some dead people!"

She hadn't really expected them to find anything, so the group of brethren and the Anointed incarnated as Andrew Borba came as a shock. A pleasant one though, since she'd needed to work off some of the aggression she'd been harboring ever since she'd realized that (a) she apparently liked her Watcher _a lot_, and (b) he seemed to see her as a kid with braces, ponytails, and riding around on a tricycle---when he didn't see her as the ultimate demon slaying machine, of course.

In the end Dean and Sam had dusted a good amount of the brethren, and through a joint effort of hers and Giles', they managed to burn the Anointed One alive in the funeral home's crematory.

All in all, it'd been a good night.

Her mom was still out at the gallery, would probably be out for a while, and so Buffy and the guys all relaxed in her backyard, drinking some sodas and looking up at the stars, relieving tonight and their victory, all in a great mood. Dean was especially in a good mood, also having worked off his aggression concerning Cordelia and Owen on the brethren.

She was surprised at how much Cordelia's having a boyfriend had affected him.

She was definitely going to have to share this with Chloe the moment she was healthy enough to gossip.

"So, Giles." Buffy sat down next to him, smiling. "Did you always want to do this? Be a Watcher?"

He chuckled at the thought, shaking his head. "Heavens no. I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher." His gaze returned to the starry heaven above them. "He was one, and his, uh, mother before him, and I was to be next."

"So you _weren't_ thrilled beyond all measure." She teased.

He grinned brightly. "No. I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot." He paused. "Or possibly a grocer." Giles shook his head at that admittance. "Well, uh…my father gave me a _very_ tiresome speech about responsibility and sacrifice and in the end I knew that I would be a Watcher."

"Do you ever, uh, regret it?" Buffy asked, suddenly nervous. "I know I'm not exactly the poster child for Slayers."

He looked at her before shaking his head. "You can be a lot to handle sometimes, it is true, and you do _nothing_ by the book, but this is a learning experience for us both."

She was silent, just content to let him speak.

"I have volumes of lore, of prophecies, of predictions. But I don't have an instruction manual for every single thing we'll go through." Giles announced. "We feel our way as we go along. And, I must say, as a Slayer, you're, you're doing…pretty well."

Buffy smiled brightly, knowing that he wouldn't realize, at least not for right now, just how much his words of praise meant to her. "Well. At least I _did_ stop that prophecy thing from coming true."

"You did!" Giles agreed. "Handily at that. No more Anointed One. And I would imagine that the Master, wherever he is, is having a fairly bad time right about now."

He smiled and Buffy laughed back.

Neither noticing Dean rolling his eyes and mouthing 'grave robber' to his brother, who just laughed and took a swig of his drink.

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_In his lair, the Master smirked, beginning to quote scripture once more. "And in this time will come the Anointed. And the Slayer will not know him. She will not stop him, and he will lead her into hell." He knelt down next to the child who'd been in the bus with his mother, and yet the eyes staring back at the Master were now pure evil. "Welcome, my friend."_

Chloe gasped as she came awake, looking around her room, disoriented.

She saw her father sleeping on a chair by her bed, and then looked at her clock, and frowned, realizing that she must have been sick for her father to be watching over her like this.

Leaning back against the bed head, Chloe narrowed her eyes, bringing her hand to her forehead, wondering why she felt that she was forgetting something important…

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	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural. I'd be the richest person in the universe now if I did!**

**I would like to thank ChamberlinofMusic, Shadow Girl, SriHellgirl25, Nindira, bushlaboo and Veronica for reviewing the previous chapter.**

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Despite the fact that Buffy and the gang had filled her in on this Anointed business that they'd stopped while she'd been sick, Chloe felt rather uneasy. Maybe it was remnants of the freak flu that'd affected only her and had her feverish and hallucinating for days, but she couldn't help shake the feeling that she was forgetting something very important.

"You've been pouty all day." Buffy announced as they made their way to a table and sat down, cradling the drinks they'd just gotten. Everyone had decided to go to the Bronze to celebrate Chloe's return to the healthy, (well, everyone but Giles---it really wasn't his _scene_) and the girls were the first to arrive. "And that's that we've been to the zoo today instead of classes. How anyone can be pouty at a _zoo_ I will never know!"

Chloe smiled up at Buffy, feeling guilty for being such a mood killer. "The zoo _was_ great, huh? Even though Kyle and his gang were being jerks as always."

"_Tell_ me about it." Buffy agreed, taking a sip of her drink.

Kyle and his gang, Rhonda, Tor and Heidi, were like the school predators, constantly tormenting those around them just for fun. Buffy admitted to wanting to beat them up most of the time but then Giles' words of 'Slayers are here to _protect_ civilians---_not_ beat them up' would keep droning on and on in her head whenever the temptation was almost too much to bear.

The thought of a mini Giles in Buffy's head, acting like her conscience, made Chloe giggle.

Kyle and his group had been tormenting Lance, as usual, when Principal Flutie had appeared and for some reason Lance had denied they were doing anything mean to him. That'd caused the group to be all chummy with him and they'd gone to the Hyena House together---the Hyena House that was quarantined and closed off with yellow barricade tape.

Dean had been off charming a flock of girls while Cordelia glared at him and stormed off, dragging Owen behind her, so Sam offered to go into the Hyena House and get Lance out before the gang decided to turn on him and do some malicious prank while he was separated from the crowd, alone and vulnerable.

Buffy and Chloe had been about to go in after him in backup capacity when the zookeeper had stopped them, spewing off about how hyenas preyed on the weak, how they were in quarantine after just arriving from Africa, and how one needed to stay out even if they called your name.

That last statement, of course, had warranted a couple of questions from Chloe and Buffy, to which the zookeeper answered that the Masai tribesmen had told him that hyenas were capable of understanding human speech. According to him (or the Masai tribesmen at least) the hyenas would follow humans around by day, learning their names, and at night, when the campfire died, they would call out to a person. Once they separated him from the others he was with, the pack would devour him.

With that creepazoid fact now in the girls' brains, the zookeeper had left to go and scold some _other_ high school student, and then Lance had come running out from the Hyena House, Sam and the others reemerging a little while later at a more sedentary pace.

Chloe had looked Sam over, making sure he was okay, and other than the fact that he _sniffed_ her while she was doing that Sam seemed fine. He had somehow managed to free Lance without getting into a fight with Kyle and the others, but as they sat together on the bus, she couldn't help but send him curious glances once in a while, wondering why he was smirking at her.

"Giles is such a kill joy." Buffy pouted, looking around the room listlessly. "This would have been _so_ much more fun if he'd just get his stiff English boxer's out of his _arse_ and have a good time once in a while."

Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing at Buffy using that British word, but she knew the amusement was clear on her face. "You really got it bad, huh?"

"Me, huh?" Buffy tried to look innocent, but failed spectacularly and somehow knew she had, because she sighed. "That doesn't bother you, right? I mean, I know you find him attractive _too_ and I don't want things between you and me to get _weird_ or---."

"Oh, no!" Chloe laughed, shaking her hands in front of her. "Sure, I mean, Giles is great looking and his knowledge is only another turn on, but I have nothing more than hero worship when it comes to him." She lowered her hands and grinned at the relieved look on the Slayer's face. "In fact, I'd probably be your biggest cheerleader if you two ever got together."

"_Really_?" Buffy smiled, happy. "_Thank you_."

Chloe smiled back before tilting her head. "Just a thought of warning though, Giles won't get with a high school girl. And you'll make him uncomfortable if you come on too strong or it might just go over his head and he won't realize what you're doing and it'll either annoy you to hell and back or make you feel insecure and lacking in feminine wiles."

Buffy blinked at her. "Why do I have a feeling that you're speaking from experience?"

Chloe ducked her gaze, blushing. "'Cause, well, I am." She cleared her throat, playing with the straw of her drink. "Remember my friend Clark Kent? I've been kinda in love with him since the first moment I saw him, but he's never seen me as anything other than a best friend, sister even, and I don't want you going through that hell with Giles. I think I'm falling out of love with Clark now, so it doesn't really bother me anymore, but it did a mean number on my self confidence back in the day."

"I _thought_ you might have the hots for him the first time you told me about him!" Buffy crowed triumphantly, before frowning, angry. "And he's an _idiot_ if he can't see how incredible you are, Chloe! You deserve someone who does, so get him out of your mind and heart and find someone who's worthy of that place."

Chloe smiled at the protectiveness in the Slayer's tone. "Clark's a great guy who deserves the love of the person he loves. I'd never wish anything else for him. I'm happy with whatever little piece of his heart I have, even if it's the 'friend' bit. Anyway, I think this time in Sunnydale has helped me…it hurts less. I'm beginning to see him as a friend, a brother."

"Good." Buffy nodded.

Chloe grinned. "But, getting back to topic, I think your problem is more Giles being horribly _oblivious_ to your attraction, or if he _isn't_, he's a damn good actor."

"I'm suspecting that." Buffy pouted. "He's too damned noble." She then giggled. "It's one of the things I like most about him."

"At least, though, a Watcher and Slayer are together for life, through the thick and thin." Chloe pointed out. "Kinda like a marriage."

The Slayer suddenly brightened up. "I'm married to Rupert Giles!"

"He just doesn't realize it as yet." Chloe added.

"Doesn't matter." Buffy announced, in such a good mood that that little point couldn't dampen it in the least bit. "I'll soon graduate, and in college the whole age difference won't mean anything."

"A glass half full kinda girl. I approve."

"Thank you very much."

Both blondes giggled.

"Hey, look. The boys finally decided to grace us with their presence." Buffy pointed to the Winchesters, who were walking into the Bronze, Dean sending Sam a weird, confused look, Sam ignoring him, his gaze intent and scanning the people in the club before resting on where Chloe and Buffy where.

That unfamiliar smirk curled his lips.

"Girls!" Sam arrived at the table before Dean, resting his hand on the back of Chloe's chair, leaning over her slightly. "Sorry for taking so long."

"Yeah," Dean arrived slower, face still troubled. "Sammy and I were, uh, having a, uh, _talk_."

Buffy raised an eyebrow at the slightly freaked out look on the older Winchester's face. "Okay?"

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, twisting slightly in her seat, looking up at Sam, wondering why he looked taller tonight.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" He asked, leaning down against her chair, bringing their faces closer.

She narrowed her eyes at his near predatory stance over her. "You're just---I don't know---acting _weird_."

"_Talk about it_." Dean snorted from where he'd sat down.

Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow at Dean.

Dean shrugged, obviously not knowing what else to say about the matter.

"I'm fine." Sam's gaze was firmly on Chloe's face, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable. "Just a little hungry…and _restless_."

"We can leave and go to the pizza place or something." Chloe offered, anything to have an excuse to get up and back away slowly without making a scene.

Sam smirked…_again_…it was _unnerving_. "I like it here." He looked up and scanned the area a bit before leaning back down towards Chloe and sniffing her hair.

"Okay, that's _it_." She twisted further in her seat and glared up at him. "What's with all of the sniffing?"

"You took a bath." Sam replied as if that explained it all, before rubbing his hand against the back of her neck. He ran his fingers through her hair proprietarily, and then took another tentative whiff, smirk back in place when he pulled away. "Much better."

Chloe was, by now, sufficiently freaked, and more than a little annoyed.

"What the _hell_?" Buffy summarized the thoughts in Chloe's head quite well.

"She'd taken a bath." Sam answered once more, more than a little annoyed that he had to repeat himself.

"We heard you the first time." Dean quipped, looking freaked himself. "She does that often, you know. We all do, actually. You included."

Sam wasn't paying attention. His gaze was on the entrance, where Kyle and his crew appeared.

"Oh great," Buffy grumbled, seeing them too.

Kyle and company came over towards them, gaze intent on Sam, and Sam stared right back at them just as intensely. Kyle stopped at their table and he and Sam stared each other down, Sam's hand going from the back of Chloe's chair to cupping her neck, gaze never leaving Kyle's.

She looked back and forth, nearly _jumping_ when Sam's thumb brushed against her furiously beating pulse.

_What. The. HELL?_

Kyle's group moved onto another table that was occupied, with Kyle leaning over the boy at the table. "Y'know, I don't understand why you're sitting at our table."

"Yeah." Rhonda, his girlfriend, nodded. "Shouldn't you be hovering over the football stadium with 'Goodyear' written on you?"

They all laughed.

It was a scratchy, irritating sound.

Sam had been watching this and also laughed as he turned back his attention to Chloe. He stopped when her expression proved that she didn't think it was funny.

"Kid's _fat_." He tried to explain.

Even _Dean_ looked utterly shocked at that, and Dean could be a real ass when he wanted to be.

"And you're a _jerk_." Chloe glared up at him, standing, arching her back to glare up at his face.

Sam smirked down at her.

She would slap him if he weren't so damned _tall_.

Sensing something, Chloe turned and looked at the entrance in time to see Angel step inside. Her glare transformed into a smile and she found herself moving away from Sam and the table, making her way towards Angel, whose gaze was on her, waiting for her.

"Hey." She clasped her hands behind her back. "Anything needs slaying?"

"Hey." Angel responded, looking somewhat awkward. "And no, um, I noticed you were out and about. Figured you'd be out here. You, uh, feeling better?"

Chloe blinked. "You knew I was sick?"

Angel frowned, staring at her oddly. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Chloe asked, that feeling of having forgotten something important nagging at her even stronger.

Angel opened his mouth.

Chloe felt arms go around her from behind before she was pulled back into a warm body. She was so shocked by this unforeseen development that she was speechless.

"_Angel_." Sam's voice was mocking as he leaned his chin against the top of her head. "How _nice_ to finally meet the guy who practically _stalks_ my girl."

"His girl?" Angel asked Chloe.

"_Your_ girl?" Chloe asked Sam, outraged, struggling to get out of his possessive hold. "Now you listen here Samuel Winchester! This is _it!_ I don't know _what's_ wrong with you but if you don't let go of me this instance I swear I'll turn you into _Samantha_!"

"Calm down _sweetie_," Sam didn't take his gaze off of Angel. "Remember that the alpha in this relationship is _me_."

"Relationship?" Chloe growled before elbowing him hard in the ribs.

Not having expected that, Sam let go with a grunt of pain.

The blonde escaped his hold and stood by Angel's side, glaring at Sam. "I'm going home." She turned to Angel. "Walk with me?"

He nodded silently.

She ignored Sam's growling her name and walked out of the Bronze with Angel, both silent, feeling kinda awkward, eyes on the darkness around them, knowing how dangerous nighttime in Sunnydale could be.

"I'm really sorry about that." Chloe sighed, hugging herself, as they walk silently side by side. "He's been acting weird ever since this morning."

Angel shrugged, gaze ahead of him. "He's a teenaged boy, they're allowed to be jerks once in a while."

Chloe chuckled at that, rubbing her arms. "I know that, but Sam's always so mature it's bothersome that he seems to have regressed. He's a total jerk. I hope someone slaps him up a bit, hopefully Buffy. Maybe a hit to the head would knock some sense into him."

"You're cold."

"He deserves it." Chloe defended.

"No." Angel stopped walking and took off his leather jacket, placing it over her shoulders. "You're _cold_."

"Oh." Chloe blushed, slipping on the jacket, gaze dropping. "Thanks."

Angel stood awkwardly before clearing his throat. "We shouldn't stay too long in one place, it's not exactly safe."

"Right." Chloe nodded, unable to meet his gaze, smiling to herself as they began to walk once more.

They walked in companionable silence till they reached her home, Angel even walking her to her doorstep.

"Thanks, for coming here with me, you didn't have to." Chloe turned to him, hesitating to enter.

"Yeah, I didn't." Angel agreed with a somewhat shy, crooked grin. "But I wanted to."

Chloe bit her bottom lip but it didn't stop her grin from growing.

"Well, I, I should go now." Angel turned and shucked his hands into his jeans pockets, taking the few steps up to the door two at a time.

He didn't look at all chilled despite the fact that he was only wearing a white tank top.

"Your jacket!" Chloe called after him.

He turned in mid-walk down the driveway, walking backwards, grin a smirk. "It looks better on you." And with that he turned and continued walking until he disappeared around the corner.

Chloe watched him go, blush scarlet, heart thumping wildly in her chest. "Oh _boy_." Taking in a deep breath she turned and unlocked the door before entering, closing the door, and leaning back against it.

She closed her eyes and grinned.

_Oh boy…_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"At least _something_ good came out of last night!" Buffy giggled as they walked the halls the next day, having been brought up to date on what had happened with Angel the night before.

"I know." Chloe grinned, blushing faintly. "He---ah---I don't want to get my hopes up like I did with Clark but _Angel_, argh!" She then laughed, shaking her head.

Hearing kids squealing around them, both girls looked up in time to see something darting towards them on the ground. Chloe passed Buffy her books and waited before catching the squealing thing with an ease that made everyone look at her in surprise.

"What?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable under everyone's gaze. "My best friend lived on a farm. I'm _used_ to helping catch stray animals."

"Lordy, Herbert!" Principal Flutie gasped, panting ferociously as he arrived before them, bending over, unable to catch his breath. "Gave Mr. Flutie quite a scare, didn't you?" He finally managed to stand straight. "Students, I'd like you all to meet Herbert, our new mascot for the Sunnydale High Razorbacks!"

Okay, that made the getup the poor piglet was in more explainable.

The students clapped.

Chloe stroked Herbert calm again, smiling as the piglet relaxed into her hold trustingly.

"He's so _cute_!" Buffy announced.

"He's not _cute_." Principal Flutie was deluded enough to apparently truly believe this. "No! He's a fierce Razorback!"

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't look mean, Mr. Flutie."

The Principal frowned. "He's mean, he's ready for action! See?" He motioned towards Herbert's helmet and foam tusks. "Here are the tusks…" he gestured towards the piece of serrated green foam tied to Herbert's back. "…the scary Razorback!"

Buffy opened her mouth to debate _how_ the tusks and razorback just _added_ to the piglet's cutness.

Chloe quickly intervened. She knew someone deep in denial when she saw one. "You're right, Mr. Flutie. He's a fine mascot and will engender school spirit, and _fear_ into our adversaries."

Buffy snorted.

Principal Flutie beamed with pride. "True, true. Now, though, we need to get Herbert into his cage."

Herbert squealed when Chloe tried to hand him to the principal.

The chubby man pointed behind himself, refusing to take the piglet. "This way."

The girls exchanged looks before shrugging and following the principal down the halls to the faculty room, Herbert falling asleep in Chloe's arms and beginning to snore in an entirely cute way.

"So cute." Buffy whispered to Chloe.

"I know!" Chloe whispered back as they stopped outside of the faculty room.

Principal Flutie went inside to ready the cage.

Sam entered the hall from outside, his gaze sliding over the girls and the piglet.

Herbert squealed and reacted to Sam's presence as he walked by. The creature seemed terrified.

Buffy and Chloe shared confused looks as Chloe struggled to keep Herbert from jumping out of her arms.

And that wasn't where the strange behavior finished.

After putting Herbert back into his cage, Chloe and Buffy had hurried off to P.E.

Since it was raining outside like cats and dogs everyone was inside, Coach Harrold looking hellishly happy to announce that they would be playing dodgeball. Buffy had been on the team that unfortunately also included Sam and Kyle's gang, while Chloe and Dean had been on the opposing team.

The game had started and balls had begun to fly.

While Chloe's aim wasn't exactly good she always found it easy to dodge the balls, but hadn't really paid much attention to how the others were fairing, so when everyone on the other team turned to look at her (Sam, Kyle's gang, a frowning Buffy, and Lance) she paused and finally looked around her, realizing that she was alone on her side.

Her heart plummeted in her stomach.

There was _no way_ she'd be able to dodge all those balls.

Buffy dropped hers. "I'm done."

Chloe sent her a thankful look.

Sam, Kyle, and Kyle's group looked at Chloe briefly, assessing her, before turning and focusing on Lance…their own teammate.

Lance looked up at them, eyes wide, before taking a step back, tripping, and falling to the ground. He cowered as they each threw their ball at him, _hard_.

Buffy pushed passed them and helped Lance up, asking if he was okay. He nodded, and she sent a glare in Sam's direction. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She snapped.

Sam ignored her, sneering, before his gaze slid back over Chloe in a way that told her that this was somehow _her_ fault. He then turned and left with Kyle and his gang.

Dean followed after, calling Sam's name.

Chloe, finally unfrozen, went to Lance's side. "Are you okay?"

Lance nodded, visibly shaken. "I guess I should be used to this by now."

"No, you shouldn't have to be." Buffy glared before stalking off to follow Dean.

Chloe patted his shoulder. "Sorry."

They stayed talking for a couple of minutes before heading to the changing rooms. By then everyone had already changed, and Chloe hurriedly did the same, hurrying out to find Buffy and the others and see if they'd managed to knock some sense into Sam.

She went towards the lockers and stopped when she saw Dean and Buffy glaring at Sam, Kyle and his pack waiting a foot away, not even pretending to not be listening to the conversation.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?" Dean snapped. "You've been acting all psycho and unlike you!"

"This stops now!" Buffy agreed.

Sam looked at the others briefly before pulling his brother and the Slayer aside. "Look, you're my brother, and you're, well, you're _Buffy_," he sneered. "So I'll give you the score. I hate you both. You suck. I'm going to be hanging out with other people now. I've outgrown you both."

Chloe was surprised to see the hurt flash on Dean's face before he turned and left, storming away.

Buffy glared at Sam before turning and following Dean.

Sam's gaze then went to Chloe, and she noticed the eyes of the pack behind him on her as well. All intent, analyzing.

"_What_?" She glared, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anything _else_ you want to say?"

Sam just looked and her and then started laughing, those behind him laughing as well, that same loud, annoying laugh that grated on her nerves. He went back to the pack, and they left as one.

Chloe, having an idea of where the other two had went, headed towards the library, indeed hearing Giles speaking as Buffy hounded his heels and Dean leaned against the desk, glaring at the empty space in front of him.

"Sam's taken to teasing the less fortunate?" Giles asked.

"Uh-huh." Buffy nodded, still following him around as they spoke and he arranged the books.

"And there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?" Giles prompted.

"Yeah." Dean answered.

"And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles?" Giles asked.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Buffy asked.

"It's _devastating_." Giles turned to her. "He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy." He paused, face mock serious. "Course, you'll have to kill him."

Dean, despite it all, snorted.

Buffy glared at Giles. "I'm being serious here!"

"So am I." Giles replied. "Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it."

Buffy shook her head. "I can't believe that you, of all people, are trying to Scully me! There is something supernatural at work here." She grabbed some books. "Get your books! Look stuff up!"

Giles took the books from her. "Look under what?"

"I don't know." She instantly deflated. "That's _your_ department. I do the slaying, you do the thinking."

"Or, in other words, you're the brains and she's the brawn. You're Jane, she's Tarzan." Dean announced, getting a death glare from Buffy.

Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling at that one.

Giles ignored Dean, gaze still on Buffy. "The evidence that you've presented me with is sketchy at best."

"He scared the pig." Buffy pouted at the look Giles gave her. "Well, he _did_…_and_ he sniffs Chloe---_constantly_! That can't be normal!"

Giles blinked, turning to the blonde in question. "He _sniffs_ you?"

She frowned. "And he doesn't seem to like the fact that I _bathe_."

"Excuse me?" the librarian blinked, confused. "He doesn't want you to _bathe_?"

"Yeah." Chloe pouted, remembering that incident. "He started rubbing his hand all over me, then sniffed me again, and seemed to deem me worthy again. He also told me he was my Alpha."

"Your _what_?" Buffy asked.

"Kinky bastard." Dean snorted.

Giles was frowning. "That---that sounds a lot like scent marking."

"Scent marking?" Dean frowned.

Giles nodded, taking off his glasses and cleaning them, expression thoughtful. "It's also known as territorial marking. It's a behavior used by animals to identify their territory. Felids such as leopards and jaguars mark by rubbing themselves against whatever they consider their territory."

Chloe felt horrified and vaguely intrigued.

"Since when has Samuel been acting like this?" Giles asked, apparently finally beginning to believe them.

Dean frowned. "Since he and that pack of Kyle's went into the Hyena House."

"That _laugh_!" Buffy exclaimed.

Giles frowned. "You think Sam's become a _hyena?_"

"What if they're being _possessed_ by them?" Chloe asked, causing everyone to turn to look at her questioningly.

Giles' eyes widened. "Well, I---I---I—I've cer-certainly never heard of---."

"Did you _hear_ about what happened to the pig?" Someone asked as he crossed the opened library doors with a friend.

"No, what?" The girl asked.

"They found him. Dead. _Eaten_." The boy exclaimed. "Principal Flutie's _freaking out_."

Everyone turned to look at Giles.

The librarian turned and headed towards his office.

"What're you gonna do?" Dean asked, pushing away from the wall.

Giles paused, turning to look at them. "Get my books. 'Look stuff up'."

"Good. _Research_. Something I can do!" Chloe closed the door to the library behind her and hurried after him, Buffy and Dean groaning as they did the same.

Sometime later found them at the table, pouring over countless volumes of books.

"Wow!" Buffy exclaimed. "Apparently Noah rejected the hyenas from the Ark because he thought they were an evil impure mixture of dogs and cats."

"Well, if Noah didn't let them in the Ark, how come they're still around?" Dean countered, not looking up from his book, testy and rubbing his temples as if he was getting a headache.

"Maybe they're good swimmers." Buffy countered, snapping her book shut.

"Maybe that legend's just a piece of crap." Dean replied.

Chloe rolled her eyes at them. "Well, whether that legend is true or not, it's a well documented fact that hyenas aren't well liked."

"Here here." Giles agreed, coming over from the cage where he kept a lot of the things he wanted to protect. "Listen to this. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoke of animal possession for, for generations." He frowned. "I should have remembered that."

"So, how does it work?" Buffy asked.

Chloe frowned, wondering why the Masai sounded so familiar.

"Well, apparently there's a, a sect of animal worshippers known as Primals." Giles began. "They believe that humanity, uh, consciousness, uh, the soul, is a perversion, a dilution of the soul. Uh, to them the animal state is holy. They are able, through trans-possession, to draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."

"And then they started acting like _jackasses_," Dean grumbled. "Or, I mean, like _hyenas_."

"Only the most predator of animals are of interest to the Primals, so yes, that would fit, yes."

"So what happens to the person once the spirit's in them?" Buffy asked the question that was on their mind.

Giles hesitated a second. "If it goes unchecked…" He handed Buffy a book opened to a certain page.

She took one look, slammed the book shut, and quickly got up to go. "I gotta find Sam." And she was gone.

Dean picked up the book and opened it to the bookmark. His face went ashen before he narrowed his eyes in determination and followed after her.

After this reaction in both of them, Chloe was reluctant to reach for the book, but she knew she wouldn't rest until she knew what they knew. So with a sigh she reached for the book, gasping in horror as she saw the drawing of people with limbs bitten off, heads missing, and other massive injuries.

"They'll find him before something happens." She whispered, trying to convince herself of this.

Giles silently lowered his gaze to his book.

They researched in silence until a pale, stricken looking teacher appeared inside, asking Giles to accompany her to a teacher's meeting.

Chloe wondered what had happened, before shaking her head and reemerging herself into the books, not noticing that minutes later the doors swung open silently, and someone slipped into the library with her.

"Do you know how _long_ I've been waiting in the other room for that old Brit to get lost?" A voice asked in her ear.

Chloe jerked up, standing, turning. Unfortunately she realized he was closer to her than she'd thought, and she leaned backwards away from him, ending up sprawled backwards on the table with a grunt of pain.

Sam smirked as he positioned himself between her thighs, palms down on the desk on either side of her waist, leaning down on her. "Couldn't have planned it better myself."

"Get _off_ of me." Chloe growled.

"Is that what you really want?" Sam asked, leaning down further against her as Chloe struggled a bit. "We both know what you really want. You want danger. You like your men _dangerous_."

"What crap are you talking about?" She looked up at him, surprised into stopping her struggles. "You know _nothing_ about my taste in men."

He scoffed at that. "I know what I see. You like 'em dangerous and mean, right? Like Angel. Your Mystery Guy. The only guy who can step into the Bronze and make you see no one else."

"That's ridiculous!" Chloe blushed.

She hadn't acted like that—right?

"Just admit it to yourself already." Sam sneered down at her. "You like a dangerous side to your men. Well, baby, guess who just got dangerous?"

"You got _mean_, there's a _difference_!" Chloe struggled once more, but he was just too _strong_.

"I like it when you're scared." He whispered hoarsely, bringing his mouth to her neck and inhaling with an agonized groan. "The more I scare you, the better you smell."

And that fear grew as Chloe felt something hard pressing up against her abdomen.

"Sam stop it! This isn't you!" She felt tears beginning to prick her eyes as she struggled harder, in vain. "You're possessed with some hyena spirit! This isn't you! You wouldn't do this! Stop this!"

Sam kissed her neck roughly, nipping the skin with his blunt teeth.

"STOP IT!" Chloe screamed.

And then there was a flash of movement, a _thud_, and Sam collapsed on her, deadweight.

Behind him, Dean stood, one of Giles' impossibly thick volumes in his hand. "Chloe?" He dropped the book and dragged Sam's body off of her, allowing him to crumble to the ground. His eyes were wide and scared. "Are you okay? Did he?"

Chloe refused to look at Dean, horrified, wiping at the few tears that just wouldn't stop falling. "L-lock him up in the cage before he wakes up." She whispered, voice hoarse, wincing when she realized that the top button of her shirt had popped off sometime during the struggle.

Dean nodded silently, dragging Sam's body to the cage and locking him in it before turning to her. "Did he?"

"No." Chloe shook her head, standing. "You came on time."

"Sammy would never do that." Dean whispered, unable to look at her in her face.

"I know." Chloe hugged herself, feeling cold. "I know that. Sammy's a puppy dog."

Dean nodded in agreement.

"If---if he doesn't remember this when we get him back, you won't tell him." Chloe ordered, eyes on Sam's unconscious body.

"What?" Dean exclaimed, shocked.

"It would destroy Sam if he knew what that thing in his body nearly did to me!" Chloe finally looked at Dean, eyes hard. "It wasn't Sam! He shouldn't have to bear with the guilt! If he doesn't remember this, it stays between you and me. _No one else_ can know. Swear it to me!"

Dean opened his mouth to argue, but then his gaze went to his brother and he sighed, nodding. "I swear."

"Thank you." Chloe whispered.

Giles entered the library, in a daze. "The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office."

"What did Principal Flutie do to them?" Dean wanted to know.

Giles exhaled but remained silent, obviously searching for what to say.

Chloe went cold all over, remembering all too well Sam's attack on her. "They didn't _hurt_ him, did they?"

"They, uh…" Giles cleared his throat. "Ate him."

Chloe collapsed into the closest seat.

Dean's eyes widened. "They _ate_ Principal Flutie?"

"The official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow." Giles shook his head in disgust at the idea itself. "There was no one at the scene."

"You think Sammy--?" Dean asked, horrified.

Chloe shook her head, still hugging herself. "He said he'd been waiting for a long time for Giles to leave."

Giles' eyes narrowed. "You've seen Sam?"

Chloe pointed to the cage, where Sam was laid on the floor, unconscious.

Giles blinked. "Oh! Uh, well, that's a small mercy."

"Giles, how do we stop this?" Dean asked, looking a little desperate, sending an uncomfortable look in Chloe's direction. "How do you trans-possess someone?"

"I-I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces." Giles admitted. "Um, the accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a predatory act, but the exact ritual is, um…" he thought for a second, picking up a book. "The Malleus Maleficarum deals in particulars of demonic possession, which…may apply…" he looked through a few pages. "Yes, one, one should be able to transfer the spirits into another human."

"How do we choose that sorry son of a bitch?" Dean wanted to know.

Giles frowned. "You have a point there. What we really needs is to put the hyena back into the hyena."

"Wasn't life so much easier when the only problems you had to figure out where like what the square root of 35 was?" Chloe snarked, leafing through a book but not really seeing what was on the pages.

Dean frowned. "What _is_ the square root of 35?"

Chloe blinked, looking at him, surprised. "I have no idea. I don't even know if 35 _has_ a square root."

Giles sighed, rolling his eyes at the teenagers. "What we need is someone who knows something about this sort of thing."

Chloe frowned, looking up. "I bet you anything that the zookeeper could tell us, that he didn't quarantine those hyenas because they were sick."

Giles nodded. "We should talk to him."

"I'll stay here and tell Buffy when she comes back." Chloe sighed. "I don't feel much like moving."

Dean sent her a worried glance. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, reaching up for the key. "Buffy will be back any minute now, it won't be like I'm alone."

Giles looked between them, obviously curious as to the odd undertones of this conversation.

Dean sighed before passing her the key. "Be careful."

Chloe nodded. "Now get out of here, the both of you."

Both men nodded before rushing out.

Sending a look in the cage's direction, Chloe sat down, and when Buffy hurried inside circa twenty minutes later, she filled the Slayer in on what'd happened---except for Sam's attack on her.

Both blondes sat on the stairs.

"They _ate_ him." Buffy couldn't get over that fact. "The actually _ate_ him."

"And you thought life couldn't get grosser on the Hellmouth." Chloe nodded, both looking unseeingly in front of them.

"And to think our parents brought us here so we'd have safe, normal lives." Buffy murmured.

"If only they knew." Chloe snorted.

The girls leaned against each other, seeking silent comfort.

Sam groaned painfully from the cage, beginning to wake up.

"_Buuuuuffffyyy_."

That wasn't Sam's voice.

Chloe's gaze followed the sound, eyes widening in fear as she looked at the small arched windows high up on the wall. Kyle was looking through one, Heidi through the other.

"_Buuuuuuuffffffyyyy_." Kyle called again.

Buffy stood up, ready to fight.

"No, this is an ambush." Chloe stood up as well, tugging Buffy back. "Remember that they wait for you to be alone and then they descend on you as a pack. And together they're too strong for you."

Buffy shot Chloe a worried glance as she realized that she was right.

Kyle and Heidi kicked in the windows, and Buffy's hand curled around Chloe's before bolting out of the room, using her superior speed to get them further away as the pack slid into the library through the broken windows, heading towards the cage where Sam was finally conscious once more.

Buffy and Chloe searched the classrooms, Buffy forcing one of the locked doors open and threw Chloe in before hurrying in herself. The Slayer hurriedly blocked the door with a chair against the handle, and then picked up the desk, moving it against the door as well. She then pressed against the table, Chloe joining her, both silent as they heard hurried footsteps in the hallway.

There were sniffing, and animalistic sounds, before suddenly the pack were trying to open the door, throwing themselves against it when the handle turned loosely in their hands. Buffy and Chloe grunted in pain as the forces of the blows jerked the table into their backs, but the girls continued to push back, and after a howl of frustration the pounding stopped.

They could hear the pack walking away.

"I think they're going." Buffy whispered, body still tense.

"They could be faking it." Chloe wasn't going to go out on a limb.

"No, they're hungry. They'll be looking for somebody weak." The Slayer frowned. "They must have tracked Sam down and come to save him before going on a hunt. I think whatever spirit possessed him is their leader."

"I think so too." Chloe nodded.

Suddenly the pounding returned to the door.

"Girls! Are you in there?" Giles' voice whispered through the wood.

Both females relaxed instantaneously, pulling the desk and chair from the door, opening it to reveal Giles and Dean, who entered the room quickly.

"Are you two okay? We arrived and saw them trying to get into this room, but then they left." Giles looked over both girls worriedly, only moving on when he was sure they were fine. "Thankfully we were down wind from them so they didn't scent us."

"Did the zookeeper know of a way to stop this?" Buffy asked.

Giles nodded. "We must lead the pack back to the zoo if we're going to stop this."

"And before their next meal." Buffy agreed, sighing. "Guess that's my job."

Giles frowned, obviously worried. "Individually they're almost as strong as you. As a group they're…"

"They're tough," Buffy agreed. "But I think they're getting stupider. You guys go to the zoo and I will bring them to you."

"I'm coming with you." Dean announced.

Buffy opened her mouth to argue with him, but then she saw the stark determination in his eyes and sighed. "Okay, let's do this." They both took in a deep breath and ran out in the direction the pack had disappeared in, searching for them.

Waiting until they couldn't hear Buffy and Dean's footsteps, Giles and Chloe nodded at each other before leaving and running in the opposite direction.

Not used to so much running, Chloe's side was cramped up and she could barely breathe by the time they arrived at the Hyena House. She nearly collapsed, out of breath, by the yellow barricade tape.

"The zookeeper must be inside." Giles announced. "I-I'll go in and prepare things. You---you stay here, catch your breath and warn us when you hear Buffy and the others approaching."

Chloe barely had the energy to give him a thumbs up.

Giles took off running down the path to where the hyenas were kept.

Bent over, breathing in and out frantically, Chloe decided that if she lived through this she'd ask Giles to let her join in on the physical training sessions he was giving Buffy. The man was in _way_ better shape than she was!

Hearing the sounds of rapid footsteps heading towards her in the darkness, Chloe groaned and hurried down the path towards the hyena cage. "They're almost here! Giles! Giles!" She frowned, not seeing Giles, but seeing the zookeeper, dressed in ceremonial robes and with his face painted. "Where are the hyenas for the trans-possession?"

"They're right here in the feeding area." He motioned to the fenced in area behind him.

Chloe frowned, looking around her, eyes narrowed. "Where's Giles?"

"He's…laying in wait."

It was the hesitation that did it for Chloe.

Her eyes narrowed. "Where. Is. Giles?"

The zookeeper moved forwards. "I already told you. He's laying in wait." He stood above a symbol painted red on the ground, hand outstretched towards her, beckoning her to his side. "I am on your side."

Chloe's eyes darted to the symbol and then up at him before scoffing. "_Right_." She took a cautious step backwards, sneer on her face. "And Giles is laying in wait."

His face changed at that moment, anger and ferocity.

"_Primal_." She hissed, recognizing him for what he was.

"They're right behind us!" Buffy screamed, heading towards where they were.

Chloe turned towards the entrance. "IT'S A TRAP!" She screamed as the zookeeper lurched for her, trapping her in his hold against his body, producing a large knife from his robe and pressing it against her neck, the blade biting into her skin.

She went deathly still.

Buffy and Dean hurried into the room and stopped once they saw Chloe and the zookeeper. The pack charged in after them, grabbing them from behind, everyone falling to the floor above the symbol.

"YU BA YA SA NA!" The zookeeper, the _Primal_, screamed out the words.

The pack looked up at him, and their eyes all flashed green.

Chloe felt the magic that rushed from them and entered the zookeeper, it was cold and dark and ugly.

The zookeeper growled, the hyena spirits now within him as he dropped the knife and grabbed Chloe's head, moving in to bite her.

"Chlo!" Sam cried out, getting free of the tangle of limbs on the ground and charging the zookeeper, knocking him down and away from Chloe.

The pack, now purely human, got off of Buffy, confused, looking around them, obviously having no idea what had happened or what they were doing there. They noticed Sam fighting with the hissing, vicious zookeeper and began to crawl away on their butts, terrified.

Buffy rushed to the zookeeper and pulled him off of Sam, punching the older man, kicking him back when he charged at her with an animalistic growl.

Sam hurried to Chloe. "Are you okay?" He looked at the slight bruises he himself had left on her earlier, eyes flashing angrily. "That son of a bitch! He hurt you! I'm going to _kill_ him!"

He didn't remember.

Chloe smiled up at Sam and surprised him by throwing herself at him, hugging the tall male tightly, crying, hiding her face in his shirt, so _relieved_.

It was so _good_ to have her Sam back again!

Sam, obviously thinking that the knife to her neck was what had her crying now, drew her close and whispered that everything was fine, that she was safe again.

And she didn't feel scared in his arms, because unlike the unforgiving hold he'd had on her in the library, he was soft and protective now.

He was her Sam now.

_Thank God!_

The zookeeper charged Buffy again and she tossed him over onto his back. Undeterred he got up and tried again. The Slayer got under him and threw him up and into the hyena pit. He hissed and her and tried to climb out, but screamed as the hyenas inside began to cackle and all bit at him, dragging him back down as they began to feast on him.

Kyle and the others got up and scrambled away, terrified.

There was a pounding sound, and then Giles stumbled out of the backroom, looking around him a little disoriented. "Uh, did I miss anything?"

Buffy just smiled at him.

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After school the next day, everyone congregated at the library, happy that everything was back to normal, or, uh, as normal as it could get while one lived on a Hellmouth.

"I heard the vice-principal's taking over till they can find a replacement." Dean announced, changing the subject.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find a new principal." Giles decided, before frowning. "Unless they ask what happened to the last one, of course."

"Okay, but I had nothing to do with that, right?" Sam asked, a tinge of panic in his voice even though he'd already asked this before…countless times.

"We already told you, bro." Dean leaned over and patted Sam on his back. "You didn't eat Principal Flutie, I'd already knocked your ass out and caged you. _You_ only ate the pig."

Sam still made a face. "That poor pig. I feel _so bad_."

Dean and Chloe exchanged meaningful looks.

If Sam felt this bad over what'd happened to Herbert, they knew how he'd react if they had told him about his attack on Chloe.

"Thank God I didn't do anything stupider than eating a pig, and hurt you all." Sam whispered, looking at them all seriously. "I would never have been able to forgive myself if I had done something and got you hurt."

Chloe nodded. "I know."

He smiled at her.

Chloe and Dean's last look promised eternal silence on the matter, and the blonde smiled, doing her best to repress the incident and never think about it again.

"Why don't we celebrate?" Buffy suddenly chirped. "We can go to the Bronze!" She narrowed her eyes at Giles as he opened his mouth. "_All_ of us."

The Watcher pursed his lips somewhat petulantly before sighing and shaking his head. "Oh _alright_. But I'm not buying your food and drinks! We go _dutch!_"

Buffy grinned immediately, knowing without a doubt that she'd somehow manage to get Giles to pay for her food and beverages. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Chloe laughed and shook her head as she got up and began to follow the others out before pausing and turning to look at the table.

For a split second the fear she'd felt as Sam pinned her to it sprang up within her, and she felt her heart race in remembrance.

"Are you okay?" Sam's voice asked, concerned.

She turned and noticed that he'd stayed behind, concern in his eyes. And like _that_ the memory was conquered, and she smiled. "Yes, I think I am."

Looping her arm around his, Chloe smiled up at him and led him out of the library, destination, the Bronze.

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**Halfway through! 6 out of 12 chapters completed! Wow!**

**Review?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.**

Wanna thank ChamberlinofMusic, Banana Flavored Eskimo, SriHellgirl25, TheAttentionJustEncouragesHer, summergirlforever, DiscoLemonadeDiva, El Neneo, Veronica, bushlaboo and Shadow Girl for reviewing the previous chapter.

A/N: As an answer to a question asked by a couple of reviewers: **Yes**. This story **will** have 12 chapters.

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Buffy and the boys were at the Bronze attending something Sam and Dean had called "The Fumigation Party". Apparently it was an annual tradition. The Fumigation Party always preceded the closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches. If you could catch one of the many cockroaches crawling around that night, you got a free drink.

She wasn't sure why everyone was so surprised that she'd decided not to go.

Her phone beeped.

Hoping it wasn't Buffy texting her to try and tempt her into going to the Fumigation Party, Chloe reached for her phone and opened the message.

_Come on googletalk? ---Clark_

Chloe grinned and put down her phone. She grabbed her laptop and signed onto her gmail account, finding Clark online and waiting. Immediately she received an invitation to a video chat and accepted it, smiling brightly at Clark's face as it appeared, the loft in the background of the image.

"Hey!" She waved. "How are you doing?"

"_Fine_, and you?" Clark asked, grinning back. "Long time I haven't seen you."

"I'm fine." She smiled, hugging her knees to her chest, wearing a large old jersey. "I've been busy."

"Yeah." He nodded, looking away with an oddly uncomfortable look before returning his gaze on her. "So, what's been keeping you so busy? I mean, it's not like you're on the school newspaper team or anything over there."

There was a strange tone in his voice that had her cocking her head slightly in confusion. "Uhm, well, you see…"

How could she tell him that the reason why she was too busy to talk to him and Pete was because she was in league with the Slayer, and that living on a Hellmouth meant that she spent most of her time battling the forces of evil?

She _couldn't_.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Clark with the secret, but it wasn't her discreet to tell, so she was left stammering and trying to come up with some sot of explanation.

And despite being oblivious about most things in life, Clark Kent _realized it_.

The farm boy sighed, ducking his gaze.

Chloe felt guilty. "Clark, I---."

What could she say?

How could she explain this without lying or telling him things she couldn't?

"No, you don't need to explain." Clark sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm being possessive again, aren't I? I mean, I should be glad that you're making friends and enjoying your time there in your new home, and I _am_ Chloe. I just---I'm just so used to being with you that it's been really hard for me since you left. I hadn't realized exactly how important you are to me until I didn't have you around all of the time."

Chloe smiled at him, unable to believe that he'd just said that.

It was so _sweet_.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she missed him too and to promise that she'd keep in contact more often from right now, when her balcony door opened and Angel hurried inside. His arm was clutching his stomach, his back to her, as he looked outside, his body tense.

"Angel?" Chloe stood immediately, worried, hurrying to his side.

"Who is that?" Clark asked, eyes wide at how the guy had just _entered her room through her balcony door_.

"Uh, um, _Clark, _I gotta go!" Chloe rushed back to the computer, lowered the lid closed, and then rushed back to Angel. "What happened to you? What are you doing?"

"Vampires." Angel winced, turning to her, arm around his stomach tinted red.

Chloe gazed out of the window, at where three huge, armored, incredibly muscular vampires were glaring up at her. She was relieved that her father was working in his bedroom at the moment, having decided to spend the night at home.

She wouldn't have wanted him to come home late at night with those things still lurking outside…

She shivered at the thought.

"Don't worry." Angel's voice drew her attention from the three vampires, who were leaving. "A vampire can't enter a house unless its been invited."

"Giles told me that, but I've never put it to the test." Chloe locked the balcony door anyway, pulling the curtains closed and turning to face Angel. "You're hurt."

Angel looked down at the arm he had cradling his midsection. "Three on one." He reminded her with some male pride.

She shook her head, grinning, before going to her bathroom and returning with a first aid kit. Upon seeing the surprised look on Angel's face, she shrugged. "I got into so many scrapes in Smallville that I had to learn to patch myself up, and it just proved to be good training for life here." She put down the kit. "Off with your jacket and shirt."

"Didn't realize you were the bossy kind." Angel murmured to himself, grinning, obviously amused by this revelation as he slowly peeled off his jacket and shirt.

The young man turned slightly, looking for a place to lay them that wouldn't stain her things with blood.

As he turned his back to her, going to place the clothes on her desk, Chloe noticed a tattoo below his right shoulder. It was of a griffin straddling a large "A".

"Nice tat."

He turned towards her, a good look at them proving that his injuries were minor, but still could do with some patching up. "Oh, thanks."

"I have one too." She admitted, grinning when she saw the surprise on his face. "What? Only men can have tattoos?"

"N-no." Angel shook his head. "It's just that every time I think I might have you figured out you do or say something that proves me wrong."

Chloe chuckled at that as she started working on his wounds, disinfecting and bandaging them to the best of her abilities before finally looking up at him, feeling a faint blush when she found his face tilted down towards her. He'd been watching her intently the whole time she'd worked, fingers soft and tender on his skin.

Taking a step backwards, heart racing a mile per minute, Chloe cleared her throat. "Wanna see it? My tattoo, I mean."

Angel tilted his head to the side and nodded.

Turning her back to him, Chloe pulled her hair to one side of her shoulder and pulled down the back of her shirt, showing the black symbols on her right shoulder blade.

She waited for a reaction, a comment.

She hadn't expected the intake of breath or to feel his fingers, cold from having been outside on the chilly night, tracing the symbols in a near trancelike way.

"These kanji…" he whispered, voice odd, choked. "Do you _know_ what you have etched on your skin?"

She chuckled. "Yes, actually. It was put there purposely before I came here."

"_Vampire_." Angel whispered, translating the kanji easily into its English variant. "You---you have----_vampire_." He cleared his throat and finally managed to tear his hands from her skin, clenching his fist tightly. "_Why_?"

Chloe fixed her shirt and turned to look back at him. "Well, I did it in this seedy little joint in Metropolis, and I wanted to do something that had a deep meaning for me. I didn't want to be one of those many cases who later regretted tattooing themselves."

Angel nodded silently.

"So I chose vampire, not really for the creature, but for the qualities."

"Soulless monsters?" Angel prompted.

She snorted. "_No_. There are many different lore on vampire, but in all of them they're the _predator_, never the _prey_. They were strong, often described as beautiful, knowledgeable due to their eternal lives and experiences garnered during that time, and most of all, confident. I wanted to stop behaving like prey and be more like a predator. _That's_ why I chose the kanji for vampire. Anyway, it's beautiful."

"Yes. _Beautiful._" Angel whispered his agreement, something dark and appreciative flashing through his eyes, as if, only for a second, something _not_ Angel had said those words. But then it was gone and he was clearing his throat, looking away, hand on his head, looking a little troubled.

"_So_…" Chloe went to the balcony once more and looked down, not seeing the vampires but knowing that that didn't mean they weren't there. "Who were the three baddies of the night and why were they after you?"

"I don't know who they were, all I knew was that they were after the Slayer. I intercepted them before they could get to her, and they must have decided that I was challenge enough because they forgot all about her and chased me." Angel admitted, sitting down awkwardly on Chloe's bed. "I was injured and they were catching up to me, I wouldn't have been able to fight the three of them by myself, and your house was the closet place of refuge I could think of---."

"You don't have to explain your reasons to me." Chloe chided. "You're always welcomed here…even _if_ you don't have three huge vampires on your tail."

Instead of looking pleased, Angel looked somewhat troubled. "Don't—do you—it's not _safe_ to be inviting everyone to your home so freely, Chloe. It's not _safe_."

"I'm not inviting _everyone_, I'm inviting _you_." Chloe replied cheekily before leaning against the wall. "And you---_you_ are staying the night here."

Angel went wide-eyed. "_What_?"

"They could be out there still." Chloe replied, motioning to her balcony. "And you said so yourself, they can't come in because I haven't invited them. You're safe _here_. You will not leave here tonight. So you're staying, no ifs ands or buts, got it?"

Angel blinked. "_Really_ bossy."

Instead of getting offended, Chloe just grinned. "Now that we know who the boss is in this room, and now that you can't just walk out when I ask you a question you don't want to answer----I have to ask you. _Why_ are you doing this?"

Angel's face went amused. "Doing what exactly?"

"Fighting vampires." Chloe replied. "Buffy's the Slayer, it's her job to fight bad guys. What's your excuse?"

"What's _yours_?" He countered.

"Good one." She smirked before going to sit down on her bed once more, up at the head, forcing him to turn if he wanted to be able to see her. "In Smallville meteor freaks just seemed to gravitate towards me, so it was a matter of survival. And here in Sunnydale---well, you saw that vision I had during the Harvest…things happen to me here as well."

"Meteor freaks?" Angel narrowed his eyes, intrigued.

And so Chloe started a long monologue about Smallville, about the meteor shower, and about the meteor rocks that'd mutated those who lived there. She told him about a lot of her experiences, also about the meteor vampires she'd encountered, and answered all of his fascinated questions.

She knew on some basic level that she should be nervous, or at least a little embarrassed, about being alone in her room, on her bed, with a man, but she found she couldn't. She laughed and spoke and moved her hands with her words and Angel's full attention was on her.

She'd never had someone give her such utter attention before, hanging on her very word, and she felt incredibly powerful.

"So, your father brought you to _Sunnydale_ to keep you _safe_." Angel couldn't believe it.

"What he doesn't know…" She shrugged, before tilting her head to the side and grinning. "What about you? Does _your_ family know about your career choice?"

The slight smile on Angel's face fell away immediately as his gaze slid from hers. "They're dead."

And Chloe felt so _uncouth_.

She cleared her throat. "Was it vampires?"

He turned to face her. "It was."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, genuinely sorry.

He seemed to realize this, because he gave her a small smile. "It was a long time ago."

"So---you fight vampires for revenge, huh?" Chloe asked, wondering if she was asking too much.

Angel looked away once more, silent.

Sighing, Chloe motioned him off of the bed, placed her laptop on the bedside table, and passed him the comforter. "The floor's hard."

Angel gave her a thankful smile for not pursuing the topic and laid the comforter down on the floor next to the bed. He laid down on it, cradling his head with his hands, looking up at her ceiling in silence.

"Good night." She whispered, getting back into bed and turning off the lights.

"Yes, it is."

Shifting till she was comfortable, Chloe hugged her pillow and smiled as she closed her eyes.

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She'd awoken to find him gone, and the comforter tucked around her. Angel had obviously wrapped her up before leaving.

Unfortunately she'd gotten up late, so she didn't have time to savor this as she raced to bathe and get ready for school, only _barely_ making it to breakfast. Her father had given her an amused look before dropping her to school.

The blonde's idea had been to go to the library, where she knew she could find Buffy, and tell her all about Angel and what had happened the night before, but when she arrived she found Buffy and the others already pouring over books.

Apparently after not being able to finish off Angel, the three vampires had returned to stalking Buffy and had attacked.

Unfortunately for them, Buffy had been walking home with Dean and Sam at the time, and between the three of them they'd managed to dust two of them, but one had gotten away.

Chloe, realizing that this was more important than any schoolgirl crush she had on Angel, decided to keep the incident to herself and help them research the vampires since there was still another loose out there who might return with more burly reinforcements.

"So these three unusually virile vampires…" Giles placed a book in front of Buffy. "They wouldn't look like this, would they?"

"Yeah." Buffy nodded.

"What's up with the uniforms?" Dean wanted to know as everyone crowded behind to get a good look at the drawings.

Chloe noticed that they were indeed the same vampires that'd been outside of her home last night.

"It appears that you three encountered, well, _The Three_."

Sam raised an eyebrow at that. "The Three?"

"Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong." Giles nodded. "Obviously Buffy's hurting the Master very much. He wouldn't send the Three for just anyone."

"Well, it's really _The One_ now." Dean smirked.

Buffy grinned, but seeing the look Giles gave her she dropped the smile and elbowed Dean in his ribs. "Be serious Winchester!"

Dean winced, rubbing his ribs.

"We must all step up in our training. Buffy, boys, I will teach you to start using weapons." Giles turned to Chloe. "I know that we have been lax with your training since you are mostly in research capacity, but this changes everything. If you had been with the others last night…"

Chloe winced at the implication.

She wouldn't have stood a chance.

Buffy was a Slayer, she'd been trained some by her first watcher, and both Sam and Dean had been taught hand to hand combat by their father as a way to protect themselves since he was never home, but Chloe had no training whatsoever. The only reason why she'd survived the Harvest was because she'd thrown herself out of the window and Angel had _caught her_.

She couldn't expect someone to always be around to save her.

"What about The One?" Sam asked, motioning to the drawing of the vampire who'd gotten away.

"We don't have to worry about him." Giles announced, certainly. "Having failed, he will offer his life to the Master in penance, and the Master is not a forgiving vampire. He will take it."

"Good, one less vamp for me to slay." Buffy grinned. She was in that same good mood all day, and as they all congregated in the library after school.

Giles pitted Dean against Buffy in hand to hand combat, and Chloe watched as they both ducked and punched, moving fluidly, gracefully around each other, Buffy's punches stronger yet Dean's movements quicker. She would have considered it to be the opposite considering their sexes, but Chloe kept that opinion to herself as she admired the way they fought.

Then Giles appointed Sam to help him teach Chloe the basics, and she ended up hurting herself more than anything else. She was uncoordinated and her body just couldn't _move or stretch_ the way theirs did. Of course, Giles had refused to actually _believe_ that, and had left her doing some painful stretching exercises while he decided to teach the three _much _more advanced students the fine art of fighting with a quarter staff—and after getting pretty much beaten up by the three of them on their first attempts, decided that they had that pretty much down pat and moved onto other weapons.

As she stretched and groaned and complained to herself, Chloe couldn't help but wonder _how_ Giles had gotten all those weapons on school without the rest of the faculty finding out.

By the time she arrived at her home she was painful in places she hadn't even known she had, and collapsed on her bed with a whimper.

She knew she should answer back Clark's many text messages asking her about what had happened the night before, but she just didn't have the strength to do so. In fact, she hardly even budged from her sprawled out position in bed when the balcony door slid open and Angel entered.

"Are you hurt?" He asked immediately, eyes narrowed.

"Yes." She groaned, closing her eyes, too tired to feel embarrassed.

"What happened?" His voice was suddenly dangerous and dark. "Who did this to you?"

"Giles." She whimpered, trying to sit up and yet just the barest movement caused jolts of searing pain through her joints.

There was confused silence before Angel spoke. "The _Watcher_?"

"Training." Chloe decided to explain, keeping her eyes closed. Even _her eyelids_ hurt. "Ever since the Three became the One he has me training now too so that I'm not _so_ much of a failure and embarrassment to them when it comes to self defense."

"You haven't been trained before?" That dangerous quality was back in Angel's voice, like black silk tightening around one's throat. "The Watcher took you to the Harvest _without any training_?"

She _really_ wanted to open her eyes and look at Angel, wondering why his voice sounded different, but she was too tired. "Lay off of Giles. He was just trying to do what was right. We had to stop the Harvest."

"_You had to jump out of a window_!" The voice hissed. "If I hadn't---_you'd be dead_!"

Frustrated, Chloe braved the pain and sat up, eyes widening and she prepared to tell him that if he was going to berate her in her own room that he could just skulk out the way he'd stalked in…but then she froze in horror.

Standing before her wasn't the Angel she knew.

Standing before her was a _vampire_.

Angel, game face on, eyes golden, glared at her angrily, apparently not realizing that his demon's face was showing in his fury. "You could have been killed, Chloe! _Killed_!"

She blinked, too shocked and confused to say anything, _do_ anything, but watch.

"I'm going to teach you from now on." He decided, beginning to pace her room thoughtfully. "The Watcher will have his hands full with the other three, and you'll need a slower, more personalized training. You'll need more attention than he can give you."

He wasn't…attacking.

Chloe's fear was pushed away by intrigued as she watched him pace like some father whose daughter was out on her first date. "Why do _you_ care if I die or not?" The blonde asked curiously. "I'm not the Slayer, I'm not the one who is supposed to protect the people. Shouldn't you be helping _her_?"

Angel paused, and his gaze shied away from hers, looking mildly uncomfortable and persecuted as he admitted, hand scratching the back of his head. "I---I feel somewhat…_never mind_."

"Don't _never mind_ me." She ordered, forgetting for a second _what_ she was talking to.

"So damned _bossy_." Angel grumbled to himself.

And she found herself giggling.

She was home alone with an unhappy vampire in her room, and yet here she was _giggling_.

Angel sidled a glance in her direction, a smirk playing on his lips, before he sighed and his smirk turned downwards in disapproval. "I don't understand it, really. I'm happy living alone, being alone, not having contact with others…" He paused, sending her an odd look. "But for some reason I feel…_possessive_…of you."

Her heart skipped.

And not in _fear_.

"Possessive?" She whispered, gaze following every feature of his demon's face, every curve and groove. What had always seemed like a horrifying deformation on every other vampire she'd ever seen, horribly enough, seemed _attractive_(if only a little disturbing), on Angel.

"_Protective_." He tried to change it quickly, looking away from her once more.

She was sure that if he were human he'd be blushing right now.

It was so _cute_.

He was like a demonic _puppy_.

"So, are there good vampires out there or are you an exception?" She finally asked.

Angel's gaze swung to her in shock and some fear. "What---?"

"Your face." She pointed out. "It's your game face. Has been for a while now."

Angel's hands went to his face and his eyes widened as he felt the creases. "I—you—I!" His hands froze on his face, shock written on every feature. "Why didn't you scream?" His voice was hoarse. "Why aren't you scared? I'm a _monster_!"

"Well, I've been threatened by monsters enough times to be somewhat of a pro when it comes to those kinds of situations." Chloe announced, getting out of bed and slowly walking towards Angel, somewhat amused when he began to back away from her as if _she_ were the predator. "And usually, right before someone tries to _kill_ or _eat_ me, they don't spend half an hour berating me for not taking better care of myself."

Angel backed into the wall with a soft _thud, _and gulped, his golden eyes wide as they returned to their normal brown, and Angel's game face shifted into his human's disguise. "I could kill you in a heartbeat."

That sent a jolt of fear down her spine but it wasn't enough to make her stop. "I know." She leaned in closer. "_So?_" She asked. "_Are_ there other good vampires out there?"

Angel shook his head, eyes flickering gold and brown, betraying the internal battle he was having with his demon at the moment as he watched her intently.

"What makes you different?" She leaned in _closer_, knowing she was taking a great risk here but the more she pushed the more he pulled away---as to not hurt her.

It only went to prove her theory correct.

He wasn't going to hurt her.

He was doing _all in his power_ not to hurt her.

"When you become a vampire the demon takes your body, but it doesn't get your soul. That's gone." He began to explain, visibly forcing himself to calm down and stop pressing back against the wall, leaving their bodies closer. "No conscience, no remorse…it's an easy way to live. I killed my parents, I killed their friends, and I killed their friend's children. For a hundred years I offered ugly death to everyone I met, and I did it with a song in my heart."

"What changed?" Chloe asked, finally taking a couple of steps backwards, not out of fear, but because she wanted to look up into his face without tilting her neck back so painfully.

Angel sighed, leaning on the wall but this time not in an effort to put distance between them. "I fed on a girl your age…beautiful…a favorite among her clan—though I didn't know that at the time."

"Clan?" Chloe asked, immersed in the story, going to sit down on the bed, surprised to realize that all the pain had disappeared in her body yet not caring to wonder why or how it'd happened.

"Romany. _Gypsies_." Angel explained, folding his arms over his chest before continuing. "The elders conjured the perfect punishment for me." He paused, looking pained. "They restored my soul." Angel ducked his gaze, voice hoarse. "You have _no idea_ what it is like to have done the things I've done…and to _care_." He finally raised his gaze, his tortured eyes meeting her own. "I haven't fed on a living human being since that day."

And she believed him.

They continued to look at each other in silence, and Chloe knew that something important had just happened between them, but she couldn't understand the deeper meaning to this. All she knew was that he'd trusted her with his story, and she trusted him, with her life.

Even though he was a vampire.

Angel finally tore his gaze from hers. "I should go."

"Why did my tattoo bother you?" Chloe asked, unwilling to let him go just like that.

Angel frowned. "You marked yourself as vampire property. It---it calls to my demon. He, he likes to _possess_ completely and mark as his that which he wants."

_'But for some reason I feel possessive_ _with_ _you'_

Chloe wondered, somewhat in awe, how much of Angel's demon was to blame for that. "Oh."

Angel's gaze soaked her in before he sighed and turned to leave.

"What time are you coming back tomorrow to teach me self defense?"

He turned back to her, surprised. "You still want me to teach you? Even—even though you know I'm a vampire?"

"What better teacher?"

He suddenly grinned, and it was _breathtaking_. "I'll come around this time." And with that he slipped out of her room.

Chloe threw herself back down against the bed, never realizing (like Angel) that their conversation had been overheard.

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Early the next morning, Chloe had made her group promise not to do anything _at all_ before she confided in them what had happened the night before.

"He's a _vampire_." Buffy collapsed on one of the seats around the table, looking at Chloe in shock. "How did I not _sense_ it the first time we met?"

Giles tsked. "I have _talked_ to you about your need to _hone_ your abilities and not pick vampires out due to their _wardrobe_."

Buffy pouted, resting her chin against the surface of the table.

"I can't believe you slept with a _fang_." Dean made a face.

"He slept _next_ to her, on the _floor_." Sam stressed that, face darkened. "He didn't sleep _with_ her."

"I can't believe that a vampire can be a _good_ person." Buffy continued to pout.

"A vampire isn't a person at all." Giles cleared his throat. "It may have the movements, the, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but it's still a demon at the core. There's no halfway."

"Vampires also don't have souls." Chloe pressed.

Giles nodded.

"But Angel _does_."

The Watcher's eyes widened. "_Impossible_."

"Possible." Chloe countered, determined. She hadn't told them about Angel being a vampire for them to find as many excuses as they could to stake him. "He ate a gypsy girl and her people put the whammy on him as punishment."

Giles sat down, taking off his glasses and cleaning them in wide-eyed disbelief. "_Amazing_."

"So he's a _good_ fang?" Dean asked, still not sure of what they were saying.

"Human serial killers have souls, doesn't make them _good_." Sam grumbled as he sat down next to Chloe.

Chloe shot him a look.

He ignored her.

Dean opened his mouth.

The doors to the library swung. "_Dean Winchester!_"

Everyone turned to see one incensed Cordelia Chase, dressed like a runway model, glaring murderously at the older Winchester.

Surprisingly enough, a moment's fear crossed Dean's face before he cleared his throat and stood. "What do you want, Chase?"

"_You! You!_" She stormed towards him, high heels tapping furiously against the floor, before stabbing her finger into his face. "You _threatened_ Owen into dumping me! You _pathetic_ piece of _crap_!"

"Well he wasn't much of a man if he _allowed_ himself to be threatened away from you." Dean replied, folding his arms over his chest, not even bothering to deny that he'd done the deed. "I think you owe me a _thanks_ for showing you that you were just wasting your time with him."

"Wasting my---?" Cordelia's eyes widened before they narrowed again and she took another menacing step towards him. "The only one I ever wasted my time on was _you! _And if you mess with _another_ of my relationships---!"

"You'll do _what_?" Dean snarled, getting into her face, both glaring murderously at each other, both threatening, both ready to throttle the other.

Chloe looked from one to the other, wondering if she was the only one who could feel the _serious_ amount of unresolved sexual tension those two were releasing. They seemed about to _jump_ each other.

Giles looked nervously between Dean and Cordelia.

Dean suddenly smirked and leaned forwards, arms going around a shocked Cordelia and smashing his lips territorially and possessively against hers. The girl's eyes went wide and she gave a little squeak as his lips claimed hers aggressively and then he let go, licked his lips, and smirked as he left.

Cordelia stood frozen for a moment, an awed, heavenly expression on her face, before she suddenly shook her head, furious once more, and snarled as she turned and stormed after him. "_DEAN WINCHESTER!"_

Chloe turned to Buffy and smirked when she realized that sometime during the kiss Giles had put his hand over the Slayer's eyes.

The Slayer was pouting but letting him keep his hand there.

Sam sighed, getting up and grabbing his bag. "I gotta go make sure she doesn't kill him." And with that he hurried out of the library after the two.

"Can I look now?" Buffy asked.

Giles' face was red, his eyes wide, still looking at the empty space where Dean and Cordelia had been moments before. "_Children_ these days!"

Buffy frowned in confusion, not even trying to move Giles' hand. "What did I miss?"

Chloe just shook her head and giggled.

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Using the sewer system helped Angel move around during the day, and it was second nature for him to the degree that he usually found himself using the sewers even during the night. Thankfully there'd been an entrance close to Chloe's house so he'd managed to get to safety minutes before dawn.

He'd gone straight to his apartment, unlocking his door and entering, locking the door behind him. His gaze skimmed over the old books stacked along the wall, and he went towards the side table, turning on a lamp.

When he straightened back up he paused, finally sensing the presence he would have sensed immediately had he not been somewhat high on the fact that Chloe knew about him and it didn't bother her.

She hadn't even _screamed_.

"Who's here?" Angel asked turned, eyes narrowed on the shadows still dark in his apartment.

"A friend."

Angel's eyes narrowed on the blonde as she walked out of the shadows, wearing a Catholic schoolgirl uniform.

"Hi." She smiled coquettishly. "It's been a while."

Angel clenched his fists, but otherwise didn't betray his anger at seeing her here in his sanctuary. She was a physical reminder of a time that he strived to atone for every day.

"What's with the Catholic schoolgirl look?" He finally asked, voice emotionless. "Last time I saw you it was kimonos."

"And last time _I_ saw you it wasn't high school girls." Darla retorted with a smile, flaring the skirt of her ridiculous outfit. "Don't cha like?" She approached Angel like a predator.

Too bad for her he wasn't prey.

She smiled up at him, as if reading his thoughts and finding them amusing. "Remember Budapest? Turn of the century? You were _such_ a bad boy during that earthquake." Her smile turned wicked in nostalgia. "Or what about our tryst in China during the Boxer Rebellion? You, me, Spike, Dru---Spike even bagged his very first Slayer that night." She sneered. "First time I felt something close to pride for Dru's creation."

Angel's demon whined in its cage at the mention of its family, of the daughter it'd sired and the grandchilde she'd created, and it snarled at Darla. It remembered how she'd turned her back on him, had even tried to _stake_ him, when the soul had been brought back and put in control.

It felt she should have done more to bring it back into control and not just try to _kill_ the body it resided in.

Darla didn't seem to notice anything that wasn't herself as she circled him. "Is there anything better than a natural disaster? The panic. The people lost in the streets. It's like picking fruit off the vine."

"I'm not the same vampire you made." Angel told her, a muscle jumping in his cheek.

"Yes, you're right." Darla sneered. "_My_ Angelus wouldn't be living above ground like one of _them_, wouldn't be hunting his own kind like one of _them_, and he _never_ have a fridge with bags and bottles of blood. He wouldn't be _this pathetic_."

"What are you doing here, Darla?" Angel was fighting with his temper.

"I'm here with an olive branch, with a friendly, outstretched hand." Darla responded. "I'm offering you a way back into our brotherhood, to stand next to the Master when he makes hell on this earth."

"And _what _would I have to do for the Master to accept me back as a part of the Order of Aurelius?" Angel wasn't interested in going back, but he was curious, knowing that Darla had an ulterior purpose in coming here.

"Help me kill the Slayer." Darla smiled brightly. "Help me bring her lifeless body and lay it down at his feet as a show of your loyalty."

Angel sneered, shaking his head. "I'd rather not."

"You're refusing?" His sire asked, surprised, as if unable to believe that he would deny her anything.

"Yes." Angel went to the door and opened it wide. "Now leave."

"How rude. I thought I taught you better than that Angelus." There was a pause. "But don't worry, this isn't my last offer. I'm sure you'll find my next one _impossible to resist_." With this last sneer, Darla sauntered out of his apartment, hips shaking and grin promising.

Angel slammed the door shut and, growled.

What the _hell_ had she meant when she'd said that he'd be unable to refuse her next offer?

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Getting off the bus, Chloe stopped outside of her house, not even noticing that her dad was home, which was extremely odd. She didn't notice this because her mind was on what she'd learnt today after school.

Giles had gone over the diaries of the watchers before him and had found mention of some two hundred years ago, of a vampire in Ireland named Angelus—the one with the angelic face.

They knew it was the same vampire as Angel because Angelus had the tattoo Angel sported.

According to the watchers diaries, Angelus left Ireland, wrecked havoc in Europe for several decades, and then about eighty years ago he came to America, shunned other vampires, and lived alone.

There was no record of him ever hunting here.

And that just went to backup Angel's story.

Buffy, knowing that Angel was planning on seeing Chloe that evening, had warned the blonde that she would be outside her house waiting to give the vampire a one on one. The Slayer was willing to believe the Soul theory for now and trust Chloe's instincts, but she wanted Angel to know the horrors he'd live through before she dusted him if he ever hurt Chloe.

Chloe thought it was psychotic of the Slayer, yet extremely sweet.

Entering her house, she looked up in surprise to hear her father's laughter mixing with that of a female. She dropped her backpack and followed the sound to the living room, finding her father sitting down and talking to some blonde girl she'd never seen before.

The stranger's gaze rose and met Chloe's as she stood. "_Chloe_." She cooed as if they were the best of friends. "You forgot I was coming over to help you with homework, didn't you?"

Chloe froze, wondering what exactly was going on.

Gabe turned to Chloe. "Good thing I came home to grab some things or Darla would have been waiting outside for hours."

But Chloe didn't even hear her father.

All she could see was Darla's face shifting into that of a demon when her father's back was turned.

This was the same vampire who had tried to feed Cordelia to Luke on the night of the Harvest.

Chloe's heart raced in fear.

Gabe turned back to Darla in time for the vampire's face to return back to her human disguise. "I'm going to go now that you have company. It was great meeting you."

"It was wonderful meeting you too, Mr. Sullivan." Darla smirked, gaze then going to Chloe.

Chloe barely noticed as her father gave her a kiss on the cheek goodbye before leaving. Her eyes were wide, her heart fearful, and yet at the same time she was intrigued and _grateful_ that this vampire hadn't killed her father when she'd had the chance.

But _why_?

The door closed behind Gabe as he left the house and headed for his car.

"You know, my first plan was to kill you for making him feel something for you." Darla announced conversationally as she stood up, clutching her hands in front of her. "But then I realized, killing you won't make Angel want to return to the fold. It'll just make him rebel even _more_." She pouted. "He's been utterly _insufferable_ ever since he got that soul stuffed down his throat."

Chloe gulped, knowing it made no sense to run. There was nowhere safe. Not even her house. Not anymore.

The only bright side was that this vampire, "Darla", didn't seem to want to _kill_ her---which was always a plus.

"Then why are you here?" Chloe asked, eyes never leaving the predator in her midst.

"Business, and pleasure." Darla assured.

"What kind of business _or_ pleasure could you have with me?" Chloe asked, wariness growing.

Darla grinned. "I'm going to _sire_ you, of course!"

Chloe's knees nearly gave out on her but somehow she managed to remain standing. "_What_? **Why**?"

"Angel." Darla went straight to the point. "He obviously has a fascination for you, and I've learnt from experience that once Angelus gets obsessed over someone I shouldn't try to stand in the way. On the contrary, I should be understanding, welcoming, and _enjoy_ it."

Chloe gulped, back up into the wall as Darla stalked towards her, playing with her like a cat did a mouse.

"You won't be the first woman I've had to share Angelus with, but at least _you_ are _sane_." Darla reached forwards and ran her fingers over Chloe's hair appreciatively. "We're used to it, sharing. We're _very_ loving families, we share those we love with others we love---or _tolerate_." She sniffed, obviously remembering something unpleasant before shrugging. "It's a vampire thing."

"Angel won't go back to you if you sire me." Chloe pressed harder against the wall, trying to get as far from the vampire as possible yet knowing it was all in vain. "He'll just _kill_ me like the others."

"Which of us has spent lifetimes with him? Which of us knows his deepest, darkest desires?" Darla purred, face shifting, eyes golden. "Angelus will fight it, but he wants you. Both the soul and the demon want you. And Angelus has _never_ been good when it comes to wanting something he can't have."

Chloe all too late tried to struggle, even though she knew it was in vain.

"Don't worry…" Darla chuckled as she slid her tongue up the side of Chloe's neck. "We'll have lots of _fun_."

And with that Darla's fangs pierced the skin of Chloe's neck painfully, a scream erupting from her throat, and yet all her struggles were useless against Darla's superior strength.

Chloe felt herself getting dizzy, her strength rapidly leaving her body. She could _feel_ the blood being sucked out from her veins by those fangs. She could also hear the surprised yet utterly seduced sounds Darla was making as she lapped at her blood, seemingly resolute in not letting one drop go to waste.

Darla pulled away after what seemed like an eternity, licking her lips, a troubled expression on her face. "Why aren't you running dry?"

Chloe couldn't answer, she was so weak, so dizzy.

"You---you should be almost _dry_ but---but--!" Darla shook her head. "I'm _full_. I'm full and you're not even halfway _dry_!"

Chloe didn't understand what the problem was.

But she didn't have time to wonder dizzily since the door was kicked in, and there was growling and Buffy screaming her name, and then she was dropped and Darla was gone, Angel chasing after her, wearing his game face.

Buffy was by her side, face terrified. "Chloe? _Chloe_!"

Chloe closed her eyes, _tired_.

"Don't you dare do this to me!" Buffy shook her before talking to someone. "Call an ambulance!"

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_"They say you got to her on time. That she must have slipped and fallen on a barbeque fork. If you hadn't arrived she would have bled to death."_

_"Don't worry, Mr. Sullivan, Chloe's going to be fine."_

_"The thing is…what I can't understand is…we don't __**have**__ a barbeque fork."_

XXXXX

_"Giles, I've never seen anyone as murderous as Angel was when he stormed out of here. I might be the Slayer, but I'd be frightened to go up against him in his rage."_

_"It—it __**was**__ terrifying, yes. He—he left to find the vampire who did this?"_

_"Yes. Blondie better hope __**I**__ find her before he does."_

_"Buffy, he---Chloe was bleeding and he didn't try to finish the job?"_

_"Giles that's nasty."_

_"…"_

_"NO, Giles, he picked her up and we hurried to the hospital. He looked terrified, hardly managed to get rid of his game face before we got here."_

_"It's, its quite amazing. To think there's a vampire out there who can control his bloodlust like that, and at such close proximity!"_

_"Are Sam and Dean still outside keeping an eye on Mr. Sullivan?"_

_"Y-yes, I believe so."_

_"Good. You keep an eye on Chloe, I'm going to help Angel hunt down that bitch. NO ONE touches my friend and gets away with it."_

XXXXX

_"I don't get it. They're saying she's fatigued. They didn't even do a blood transfusion. Her blood---she arrived with blood loss but it's---its like its regenerated its supply by itself. I've never seen anything like this in my life---and I've lived long!"_

_  
"So this isn't some freaky vampire survivor thing?"_

_"No."_

_"Well…at least we got the bitch who did this to her, and the doctors say that as soon as Chloe wakes up she'll be able to go home."_

_"Slayer, you're not seeing the problem here."_

_"Vampire, what problem am I not seeing?"_

_"Darla was stronger, didn't you listen to her before I finally managed to stake her? She was stronger, faster, and her wounds healed up faster too. She was high on Chloe's blood, Chloe's blood did something to her. Not even __**Slayer's**__ blood does that to vampires."_

_"It probably has something to do with her freaky connection to the Hellmouth…or maybe she was around those meteor rocks long enough to get freaked. Or maybe a combination of both. I'll have to talk to Giles about that."_

_"No one can know about this. If word got out that a human's blood was such strong tonic, every vampire in Sunnydale would be after her."_

_"Right. Only tell Giles."_

They talked some more, but Chloe went back to sleep and didn't hear the words uttered.

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**Review?**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.

**I wanna thank Shadow Girl, Banana Flavored Eskimo, Nindira, ChamberlinofMusic, bushlaboo, emma134, Veronica, violent-smurf, DiscoLemonadeDiva and SriHellgirl25 for reviewing the previous chapter.**

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"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Sam asked, hand on Chloe's shoulder, looking concerned into her face. "We might have overdone it a bit last night, you could hardly walk when we were finished."

Chloe looked up into his face, keeping her voice lowered like him so that no one else could listen to their conversation. "I'm a big girl, Sam, I can take whatever it is you give me."

Sam sighed, still worried, squeezing her shoulder. "Maybe we shouldn't do it again tonight. Your dad's gotta be getting suspicious about all the noises in your bedroom."

"Dad's never around, you know that." Chloe sniffed before frowning. "Are you---do you not want to do this anymore?"

"_Chloe_." Sam shook his head. "I enjoy it, I do. But we're keeping this a secret from everyone, even our own friends." He paused, biting his bottom lip as he pondered how to say this. "Why don't we tell them the truth?"

"Because---because for now---I just want this to be our little secret." Chloe responded, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. "We aren't hurting anyone with what we're doing, Sam. You know that."

Sam sighed. "I know."

"And we've gotten closer and closer to what we want." Her gaze found his and held. "You're the only one I trust to do that with me."

Sam blushed and looked away, a small smile on his face.

"And anyway." Chloe looked around, making sure that no one was paying any attention to them, before returning her attention to Sam. "We're making progress, Sam. I---I can withstand it better. You _know_ that. I'm beginning to _channel_ it. I'm beginning to _control_ it, no matter_ how little, _and not it _me._"

Sam Winchester nodded, face serious. "It's going in you, through you, and strengthening the results. You're like, a wand or something." He frowned. "But Giles is going to realize that we nicked one of his spell books, Chloe. And he's not going to be happy when he realizes the experiments we've been doing behind his back. They're dangerous, and you know it."

Chloe nodded, knowing that to be true.

After trying to look for a way to minimize the effect the mystic Hellmouth energies had on her and finding nothing, Chloe had nearly given up hope, resigned to the lava hot pain.

And then she'd awoken from the encounter with Darla and something in her was _different_.

She could control it better, as if some impure seal was cracked slightly and the true core of the essence was vibrating within that seal, seeping slowly inside of her.

She remembered how the energy of the Hellmouth had flown through her during the episode with Amy and Mrs. Madison, and that was how her plan had come to being.

She wasn't going to try and find a way to get rid of the effects---there just wasn't a way---she was going to find a way to control it, to use it. But for that she needed to practice.

Angel had been teaching her self-defense every other night in her bedroom, and on the nights that Angel didn't come, Sam was there, with the book of harmless but entertaining spells Chloe had stolen from Giles.

They did the small spells, and every time Sam began to chant the words Chloe would feel the Hellmouth magics working through her, channeling through her, and making the spell itself stronger. At first she'd fainted, like usual, but then she'd learnt to tolerate the pain, to push it back, to control it, and for the last week the pain was gone.

She'd also learned how to make sure a spell didn't steal power from her.

Sam wanted to tell the others of what they were doing and of their success.

And Chloe wanted to as well, but she just wanted to make sure it wasn't somehow a fluke. She hadn't told Sam that as she and he worked together strengthening that ability, that as she learnt with Angel it helped her be stronger, faster. She hadn't told Sam that now that she'd opened herself more to the Hellmouth that she almost constantly felt her fingers tingling from the mystic energies all around her.

"Alright." Chloe sighed, looking up at him. "We'll tell them."

Sam grinned in relief. "Good."

Buffy lifted the lid off of a box and looked inside. "Oh, _great_!" She declared sarcastically. "A book!"

They were all in the library, a book-scanning project on the way, it had been going on for a couple of days now. A couple of students were seated at the table that usually only saw Giles and them, scanning the books into the library's computer system.

Dean was nowhere to be seen, apparently having some sort of rendezvous to get to with the girl of the week.

Buffy pulled the book out of the box and blew some of the dust off of it.

Giles appeared at her back, looking over her shoulder at the book. "I haven't gone through the new arrivals. Put it in that pile over there."

Ash reached for it. "Here, I'll get it."

"Thanks." Buffy passed the book blindly over to Dave without even looking in his direction, head tilted so that she could smile dreamily up at Giles from where he was behind her.

Giles smiled and patted her shoulder. "When I've examined it, you can, uh, uh, _skim_ it."

"_Scan_ it, Rupert." A voice said behind them. "That's _scan_ it."

Giles took his hand off of Buffy's shoulder and turned to the beautiful woman talking, giving her a sarcastic look. "Of course."

Ms. Calendar, the beautiful computer science teacher, leaned her hip against the table. "Oh, I know, our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20thth century. With three whole years to spare!" She then grinned.

Buffy turned towards them, face neutral but eyes glowering at the teacher who had a sort of flirtatious antagonism with Giles. It was like whenever Ms. Calendar was in the room Giles' attention was on her, and he sometimes forgot about Buffy altogether until the Slayer found a way to break into the conversation and get back his attention.

Giles smirked smugly at the dark haired woman. "Ms. Calendar, I'm sure your computer science class is _fascinating_, but I happen to believe that one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the, um, idiot box."

Ms. Calendar snorted, obviously annoyed. "That's TV. The idiot box is _TV_. This" she indicated a computer. "Is the _good_ box!" She turned to Buffy. "Tell him. Between a book and a computer which would _you_ choose?"

"A book. _Totally_." Buffy announced. "I'm like, super-reader."

Ms. Calendar raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Giles grinned at his Slayer approvingly.

Fritz, one of the students doing the scanning, snorted self-righteously. "The printed page is obsolete." He stood, having finished his pile. "Information isn't bound up anymore. It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive." He grabbed his books and left.

Everyone watched after him in silence.

Buffy and Giles exchanged smug grins and turned a raised eyebrow at Ms. Calendar.

The woman was shaking her head at her departing student. "Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people." She turned to Giles. "Fritz, Fritz comes on a little strong, but he _does_ have a point. You know, for the last two years more email was sent than regular mail."

Giles didn't seem impressed.

"But nothing says romance like a good old fashioned _card_." Buffy jumped into the conversation again. "What's more romantic? A hallmark card in your hands with _his_ writing on it, or a cheesy, impersonal ecard?"

Ms. Calendar pouted. "Well…notwithstanding, more digitized information went across phone lines than conversation."

"That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror." Giles murmured.

Ms. Calendar smiled at Giles teasingly. "I'll bet it is." She ignored Buffy's glare and turned to her students, who'd been at the library helping with the scanning. "Alright guys, let's wrap it up for today."

Giles nodded. "I'm—I'm just gonna stay and clean up a little. I'll, uh, I'll be back in the middle ages." He started up the stairs.

"Did you ever leave?" Ms. Calendar called after him.

Giles stopped and looked back at her.

She smiled to herself, obviously pleased with his reaction to her comment.

Buffy growled only loud enough for Chloe to hear before hurrying up the stairs and pushing Giles up as she went, breaking the connection immediately.

Sam went to talk to Ash as the doors to the library swung open and a pissed looking Dean stormed in, going to lean against the wall next to Chloe.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Chloe finally asked. "What happened to _you_?"

"_Cordelia_ has a new _boyfriend_." Dean responded, voice a growl.

Chloe managed to stop her smile.

This whole I hate you/I love you thing Cordelia and Dean had going on was just so _cute_. But, really, they needed to get with the program and get together. They obviously felt deeply for each other, and wanted to assassinate anyone who got with the other.

The problem was that the both of them were prideful and had an attitude, and neither would go to the other to talk things out.

"Who is he?" The blonde asked.

"His name is Malcolm Black, and he's eighteen. He lives in Elmwood, which is about eighty miles from here. They met online the beginning of this week." Dean growled out. "Apparently he sent her a picture of himself and he looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model."

Chloe blinked. "Cordelia told you all this?"

Dean snorted. "What? _No_. She doesn't know I know."

"Then how _do_ you know?" Chloe wanted to know. "You didn't make Sam hack---?"

"_No_." Dean shook his head. "I noticed Cor acting all odd and _dreamy_ and I got suspicious, so I chatted up her friend Harmony and she spilled the beans." A moment's sadness crossed his features.

Chloe was silent, observing his face, before reaching over and embracing Dean in a sisterly hug. Dean froze in her arms before sighing and hugging her back, holding her close, accepting the comfort. "So, how about we make this a brownie night?" The blonde finally asked as they pulled away.

Dean suddenly smirked. "You bring the brownies, I bring the hunger!"

Laughing, Chloe shook her head, and turned to where Sam was watching her and Dean oddly, and Buffy and Giles were coming back down the stairs, chatting amongst themselves on the possibility of the plague actually being a curse by a very powerful witch. "Hey guys, brownie night at Giles' tonight?"

Giles didn't even bother remind her that she hadn't asked him for permission to go to his house.

Everyone was up to "Brownie Night".

They finished the work there, and all piled into Giles' small car. The girls made a quick pit stop at the grocery store to buy the needed things to make the brownies, and then they went to Giles' small but homey place.

The evening was filled with laughter and fun and teasing, all enjoying the brownies Chloe had to keep making because they were all eaten minutes after coming out of the oven. Of course, all laughter died when Sam and Chloe exchanged looks and finally confessed to what they'd been doing at night.

"Do you two _realize_ how dangerous that was?" Giles was angry, glaring at them both. "The powers of the Hellmouth are not to be trifled with! You could have been seriously hurt! The _both_ of you!"

"We know, and don't blame Sam, it was all _my_ idea." Chloe sighed, leaning back against the sink. "I wanted to do this with just him, just in case it was a bust. But it _wasn't_. It's _working_. Slowly, but still doing something."

"When you saw you can channel it through you, what exactly do you mean?" Buffy asked, sitting on top of the island in the middle of the kitchen, intrigued.

Chloe turned to Sam.

He nodded, clearing his throat before outstretching his hand over a brownie on the place. "Remember, it's a work in progress." He cleared his throat again and began to mumble some words in latin.

It trembled slightly, but other than that nothing happened.

Dean snorted in amusement.

"She was blocking her influence on it." Sam glared at his brother before turning to Chloe, nodding, and trying it once more.

Chloe's eyes flashed black for a second, and then the brownie shot up into the air, exploding against the ceiling, reigning chunks all around them.

The blonde smiled sheepishly. "I still need to work on controlling how much I let channel through me."

"You're a _conduit_." Giles whispered to himself, taking off his glasses and rubbing off the pieces of brownie stuck to it. "I need to call the Watcher's Council immediately and tell them about this. You---you need an instructor, someone who can help you _safely_ learn how to use the mystical energies that flow through you."

"So you've heard of something like this happening before? They have someone who can help?" Chloe asked, eyes wide.

"Well, _no_. I've never heard of anything similar before." Giles admitted, visibly shaken. "But it's beginning to shed some light on the mystery that is your connection to these energies."

"Really?" Dean snorted. "Because all I got is more questions!"

"Do we all." Buffy announced, before pushing off of the island and turning to Chloe. "What does it feel like?"

"Heat, tingling." Chloe responded, she turned to Sam. "What about you?"

"Same thing, but to a much lesser degree than you I'd suspect." Sam nodded.

Dean turned to Giles. "So does this make my brother Bewitched?"

Sam sent a glare in his brother's directions.

"He _did_ do a spell, without her, _somewhat_." Buffy agreed. "It _trembled_."

"I---I will need to talk to my superiors---." Giles turned and walked away, heading towards his phone.

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Breath coming out raggedly, Chloe threw a punch, but Angel was too fast. He dodged her punch, rounded up behind her, and grabbed her in a headlock.

"_Give in_?" He purred into her ear.

"What, and disappoint my mentor?" Chloe wheezed.

She rotated her body, using her shoulder, and placed her arm in front of his body. Placing her leg behind both of his she fell backwards and tripped him over her leg. Pushing off of the ground the moment they landed, Angel stunned, Chloe pulled the stake from where it was in her pocket and straddled Angel, stake resting over his heart.

Angel looked up into her face and then grinned. "_Good work_!"

Chloe grinned back down at him. "I thought so myself."

They continued to look at each other, and the stake slipped through Chloe's fingers, falling harmlessly onto Angel and rolling off of him to the grass beneath.

Angel's gaze darkened as it fell to her lips.

Chloe's heart began to beat rapidly, lips parting, unable to tear her gaze from his face.

During their training sessions the heat was always there, pulling at them, leaving Chloe dizzy and _needy_ in a way she'd never been before. She could feel the power in him, could feel it calling to her, just like she knew that something in her called to _him_.

They were slowly, painfully seducing the other, without even trying.

Angel's hands went to her hips, and Chloe's heart skipped a beat---her breath catching in her throat for a second---as she saw the hunger and desire in those golden tinted eyes. If she pushed, if she provoked him _just a little more_, his face would shift.

Chloe bucked.

Angel growled deep in his throat, his fingers digging into her hips, face shifting into that of his demon. One hand left her hip to travel up the expanse of her back, beneath her shirt, nails scraping her skin in a way that caused her to whimper and arch under his touch, wanting _more_.

There was something dark and untapped in her due to that obscure connection of hers with the Hellmouth, and it relished these touches, the slight pain.

Angel's hand covered the kanji on her shoulder blade possessively, digging his fingernails in around them.

The words seemed to heat under his touch.

Chloe mewled, leaning down towards him, unable to look away from his golden gaze, her lips only inches from his…

The sound of her father driving up the driveway brought her lips away right before they could touch Angel's, bringing her back to her senses, although the growl of disapproval reverberating in the vampire's throat was almost enough to make her forget about everything.

"_Angel_…" She whispered, trying to pull away despite his possessive hold on her hips. "You have to _go_."

Angel gave a little snarl before closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, his face returning to its human disguise and his hands loosening their hold. "Sorry."

Chloe heard her father entering the house and calling her name. "You have to go."

The vampire nodded as they scrambled to their feet.

He sent her a last hungry look before giving her a little nod and disappearing into the shadows.

Chloe watched him go silently, heart racing and disappointment thick in her throat.

"_Honey_?" Her father's voice was slightly hysteric by now. He'd been a little paranoiac ever since she'd 'fallen on the barbeque fork' that he hadn't realized they'd had.

"Outside, dad!" Chloe called.

He quickly appeared through the kitchen door, standing on the threshold. "_Sweetie_, what are you doing out there by yourself?"

"I'm uh," Chloe looked around her before bending to touch her toes. "Doing exercises, dad!"

"Oh, that's, _healthy_." Gabe announced, leaning against the doorway. "But isn't it a little late to be exercising? You might catch a cold."

"Yeah, maybe." Chloe nodded. "I---I'm going back inside in a few."

"Okay." Gabe nodded before entering, calm now that he'd seen his daughter and knew that she was okay.

Chloe waited until her father was gone before turning to look at the darkness around her, feeling the Hellmouth energy crackling around her fingertips.

He was still somewhere out there, watching her.

Smiling she grabbed the discarded stake, stuck it in her back pocket, and went inside.

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"So, how long have you been practicing?"

Chloe looked up from where she'd been waiting for Buffy to finish with her computer science class. Chloe's Health Class had ended early so she'd taken to loitering outside of the computer science classroom. She hadn't expected for the door to open and for Ms. Calendar to appear in front of her.

"Practicing what?" Chloe asked, a little confused, a little wary.

"Sometimes, light crackles around your fingertips. Like _now_."

Chloe's eyes widened as she jerked her gaze down to her fingers. Sure enough, she was slowly wriggling her fingers and light crackled around them every couple of seconds. "That's not good."

"You've obviously untapped your abilities, but you can't control them." Ms. Calendar announced easily. "You need a guide, a mentor, and I doubt Rupert's the best person for that. He will have his hand full with Buffy."

Chloe's eyes widened on the teacher. "How do you know--?"

Ms. Calendar smiled, obviously pleased. "Well, let's just say that you guys aren't the only ones around here who know something about the occult, or the fact that weird stuff seem to gravitate here naturally. The portents that appear here all the time are _incredible_, and you should _see_ the bones I've been casting since I moved here."

"Who _are_ you?" Chloe asked, shocked.

"I teach computer science at the local high school." Was the cheeky reply.

"I was kinda asking if you were a witch." Chloe admitted.

"Mm." Ms. Calendar pursed her lips for a second. "I don't have that kinda power. 'Technopagan' is the term I use. But I _have_ had natural born witches in my family, and I know how to help you."

"Why would you?" Chloe narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Good, you're suspicious of me, that's being smart." Ms. Calendar grinned, approving. "And as for your question. I have noticed many times that Buffy is one of the only things that's keeping everyone here alive, and she'll need all the help she can get. You don't have to trust me right away, but let me help you, if only to keep yourself safe."

"Keep me safe?" Chloe asked, not liking the sound of that.

Ms. Calendar nodded. "Chloe, I don't think you notice it, but lately you've been slowly radiating this power that even _me_, with my _low_ amount of perception, can sense. It's a wonder that all the vampires in town haven't targeted your home at sundown each night."

Chloe gulped.

"Power is addictive to the things that go bump in the night." Ms. Calendar's face was serious. "And you've just become something to have. Whatever it is that makes you radiate this power is going to keep attracting the predators until they either catch you---or you learn to mask it." She paused. "But for that, you need to start learning. Tonight if possible."

The blonde hesitated before looking up at the teacher. "Can I bring Sam with me?" She cleared her throat and looked away. "He's been helping me with this."

"So he's opened himself up to it as well." Ms. Calendar tapped her bottom lip with a fingernail before nodding. "Yes, bring him. We'll start after school ends. And don't worry about Rupert, I'll talk to him about this."

With a grin at Chloe, Ms. Calendar went back to her classroom.

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That evening, Chloe and Sam waited outside the library with everyone else while Ms. Calendar and Giles argued inside. Chloe could understand Giles' protectiveness when it came to her and his distrust of Ms. Calendar, but Chloe really needed this.

The teacher was right.

Giles was already busy with Buffy and the others.

Maybe this was fate.

Maybe it was destined for his multiple calls to the Watcher's Council to go unanswered because she already had a teacher _here_.

The doors swung open and Ms. Calendar grinned victoriously as her gaze fell on Sam and Chloe. "Come on then, let's go!"

Sam and Chloe exchanged a look before nodding and following.

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**Review?**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.

I wanna thank **DiscoLemonadeDiva, skauble, bushlaboo, Veronica, SriHellgirl25, violent-smurf, ChamberlinOfMusic, Scullyga** and **Shadow Girl **for reviewing the previous chapter.

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Chloe's life was a busy, weird one.

Not only was she supposed to keep her grades up, but she had the magic/control lessons with Ms. Calendar and Sam. She also had to help patrol with Buffy, research any new baddies with Giles, learn how to fight with Angel (who'd tried not to touch her more than necessary after _that_ incident), keep her father ignorant of what was going on while still keeping him safe, play counselor to Dean and his ongoing battle with Cordelia…and _also_ had to keep her friends in Smallville happy.

Which was proving to be hard.

Even _Pete_ was beginning to feel that she just wasn't interested in writing or talking to them anymore. That she liked her _Californian_ friends better.

Chloe was going to _scream_.

Or have a nervous breakdown…

Or both at the same time.

It hadn't helped that the last couple of weeks she'd not only had to help Giles run the school talent show (Principal Snyder, the new and quite scary principal, had forced Giles into running it and Giles had begged for help and Chloe had been the only one to offer it while the others sniggered) but it turned out that one of the wooden dummies was actually a cursed hunter and that one of the students in the talent show was actually a demon who needed a human heart and brain every seven years to keeps its human form.

Buffy, Sam and Dean had been forced to perform in the talent show, (a memory they all repressed afterwards and refused to speak of ever again) and they all had had to help Sid figure out who the demon was.

So, Chloe had _even more_ placed upon her shoulders (since _she_ was basically running the talent show with Giles helping her---even though it should have been the other way around).

They'd finally managed to slay the demon and Sid the Dummy was put to eternal rest now that his mission in life was over, but Chloe _knew_ it was only wishful thinking, hoping that nothing would happen this week so she could just relax.

"So they've been kinda jealous, huh?" Buffy asked, referring to Clark and Pete, holding her books to her chest as they walked down to their first class together.

"Yeah, but I can understand them still." Chloe sighed, hugging her own books to her chest. "I used to be with them all the time, and they don't know about what I'm doing here. Obviously it will look as if I'm avoiding them or something."

"Boys." Buffy snorted. "I bet you that if you went to Smallville and the same thing happened the Winchesters would be jealous too."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, amused. "Not you?"

Buffy snorted. "If you're going to Smallville I'm coming with you to make sure you come back and they don't steal you away!"

Both girls giggled and knocked shoulders together as they entered the classroom. Sam was sitting by his desk, looking over one of the books Ms. Calendar had given him as 'homework'. Jenny, as she asked them to call her when they were studying together, believed she could feel some magic in Sam, or at least some potential for it, and she wanted him to do his best to explore the potential.

And he was taking it serious.

Cordelia was checking her makeup in her mirror, looking up in annoyance when Wendell walked over and stopped in front of her to look at his paper in the light.

"Hello? Doofus!" She announced, causing him to look at her. "You're in my _light_."

"Wendell, what's _wrong_ with you?" Dean appeared, clapping the other boy's shoulder in mock outrage. "Don't you know that she is the center of the universe and that the rest of us merely _revolve_ around her?"

Wendell chuckled.

Cordelia raised a half amused eyebrow at Dean, not as angry as she usually was with him. "I don't know about the _rest_ of the world, Winchester, but _you_ seem to revolve around me."

Dean snorted, losing some of his bravado. "You _wish_, Chase."

Buffy shook her head as Chloe and her found their seats, and sent Amy a wave before talking to Chloe again. "Why do I have a feeling those two are going to get married right out of high school and have the most _annoying_ children _ever_?"

Chloe snorted in amusement as Dean and Cordelia continued to banter between them, completely forgetting Wendell, who shook his head and took his seat.

Everyone took their seats as Ms. Tishler entered the classroom. "Alright, take your seats. In a moment we will choose partners and practice what we read about in chapter five for homework last night."

Sam finally put down his book and paid attention.

"Before we do, let's review." Ms. Tishler continued. "Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our fundamental needs after food and shelter is to be heard."

Buffy dropped her pencil and bent down to pick it up.

"Wendell," Ms. Tishler called out. "Would you read the first to paragraphs on page seventy eight…"

Noticing Buffy staring at something, Chloe frowned and noticed a young boy standing at the door, watching them.

Ms. Tishler continued. "…where Isaacson describes the rapid improvement active listening brought to some special needs clients."

Wendell opened his book. He then screamed and dropped it on his desk, and suddenly there were countless tarantulas crawling out of it. Ms. Tishler and the students closest to him screamed and quickly got out of their chairs and away from him.

Dean got up in a flash of lightly, pushing Cordelia behind him protectively, the brunette holding onto the back of his jacket and hiding her face in it as she screamed.

The tarantulas began to crawl all over Wendell.

"Please!" He screamed, terrified. "Get 'em off of me! Help! Help! Help me! Oh, please help me! Please!"

Buffy and Sam hurriedly raced to Wendell, using their textbooks to try and _sweep_ the arachnids off of the screaming male.

Chloe turned to the doorway, but the boy who'd been there seconds before was gone. She was rooted in her spot, watching as the spiders all crawled away now that Buffy and Sam were attacking them, and they hurried out into the halls, causing more screams to be heard.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, leaning over a near frozen Wendell.

Dean had disappeared with Cordelia during the screaming, so it was only Sam, Buffy and Chloe with Wendell, screams still loud in the hall.

"I---I don't know what to say." Wendell stammered.

"You don't have to say anything." Buffy shrugged. "You saw two hundred spiders and you Gonzoed. Anybody would have."

Wendell remained silent, gaze ducked.

Chloe frowned. "Has anything like this ever happened before?"

He nodded his head yes.

Sam's eyes widened. "When?"

Wendell sighed. "Lots of times."

"Can you explain?" Buffy asked, confusion on her face.

Wendell looked at all of them before running his hand over his hair. "I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns and tarantulas and black widows... Then my folks shipped me off to wilderness camp." He looked away, snorting in disgust. "All my brother had to do was maintain their habitats. Instead he left their heat lamp on for a week. When I came home they were all dead. That's when the nightmares started."

"Nightmares?" Buffy asked, going to the window, frown on her face as she concentrated on something outside.

Wendell nodded. "It's always the same. I'm sitting in the classroom, teacher asks me to read something, I open up my book and then there they are." He ducked his gaze. "They're coming after me. God, can you _blame_ them after what I did?"

"And that's how it happens?" Sam's eyes were narrowed. "Every time?"

The other boy nodded. "When it happened today I thought I'd just nodded off again. But then everyone else started screaming too."

Buffy pushed away from the window. "I—I saw the little boy. I'm going to see if he's okay." And with that she hurried out of the room.

Chloe watched her go with a frown before turning to Wendell and watching Sam talk to him, telling him that it wasn't his fault, and if anyone was at fault it was his brother.

Dean reappeared in the doorway. "What the hell just _happened_?"

Chloe got up. "I'll let the boys fill you in. I'm going to go see Giles."

Dean nodded in understanding.

The blonde left the classroom, looking both ways and jumping over the spiders still crawling around the hallway, hurrying towards the library, swinging the doors open. "Giles!"

For a moment there was nothing, only silence, and then Giles appeared out of the stacks and looked around him, bewildered.

Chloe frowned. "Are you okay? Did something happen?

"I was, uh, in the stacks." Giles finally turned his attention on her. "I got lost."

"Lost?" Chloe echoed. "In the _stacks_?"

Giles nodded.

"Okay, another weird thing today."

He frowned. "What do you mean? Did something happen?"

"Didn't you hear the screaming?" Chloe asked, blinking. "Wendell opened up his book and about two hundred spiders just came crawling out of it, and get this--, he's dreamt of it before it happened."

"Like a _premonition_, you think?" Giles asked, coming down the stairs.

"I don't know, maybe." She shrugged.

Things had gotten weirder after that. They'd been going over books trying to figure out what was going on, when Sam came into the library and told them that there'd been an attack on a girl in their year, Laura. Apparently she'd gone down to the school basement to smoke and then she'd been attacked, beaten half unconscious.

Since the school was in an uproar already, it was easy for them to sneak out to the hospital to visit Laura, and try to see if she was okay, and if she'd seen whoever it was that'd attacked her. The visit had only proved to make the day even weirder when Laura described her attacker as an 'it', something she'd never seen before, that'd tried _clobbering_ her to death. It'd apparently called her "Lucky Nineteen" right before its attack, and Chloe was sure it was a clue.

But what could it mean?

They'd left the room and met up with Laura's doctor, who'd surprised them by saying that Laura wasn't the first one this had happened to. Apparently the first victim of whoever (or whatever) doing this had been found a week ago, and he was still in coma. The doctor was worried because if the young boy didn't wake up soon there was a good chance he never would.

The trio had gone back to school and gone to the library, cutting classes like usual. Then again, things seemed to be getting weird around them, and no one seemed all that worried about classes---not even the teachers.

"This can't be happening." Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes from where he was going over a number of newspapers.

"What?" Chloe looked up at him in worry.

Giles stopped rubbing his eyes and turned to look at her and Sam. "I'm having a problem."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What kind of problem?"

Giles took in a deep, calming breath. "I can't read."

The two teenagers shared a look before Chloe turned to Giles once more. "What do you _mean_ you can't read? You can read in _five _different languages! And that's not counting the dead languages or demonic!"

Giles took in another deep breath, obviously the first hadn't been enough to calm him. "The-the words here don't make any s-sense. It's _gibberish_!" He stepped away in frustration. "And where is _Buffy_ during all of this?"

"Last I saw her she was going after some boy." Sam offered.

Giles snorted, shaking his head. "Now is _not_ the time to be thinking about _dating_."

Chloe bit back a giggle at that as she reached for the newspaper that had Giles so frustrated, eyes widening as she saw the boy featured in the picture. "That's him."

"Who?" Sam and Giles asked at the same time.

"The kid I saw right before Wendell's spider episode, the kid Buffy saw and ran out after." She began to read the article under the picture. "'Twelve-year-old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his kiddie league game Saturday. Doctors describe his condition as critical.' When was this published?" She looked at the date. "Last week. It says that he's in a coma in intensive care."

Sam's eyes widened. "This must be the boy from the hospital!"

Giles blinked. "The first victim?" He turned to Chloe. "And you and Buffy have both seen him around the school?"

Chloe nodded.

Giles shook his head, confused. "But this boy's been in a coma for a _week._ How can this be possible?"

"Uh, well, um, there's always astral projection." Sam announced, causing them to both look at him. He cleared his throat and looked down, a little uncomfortable. "In this book Ms. Cal---_Jenny_---gave me to read, it talks about astral projection. The, uh, theory is that while one sleeps one has another body, an astral body, which can travel through time and space."

"Billy's in a coma." Chloe nodded. "That's like being asleep. Giles, what do you think?"

The watcher paused before sighing. "Maybe that insufferable Calendar woman _has_ some use."

Sam and Chloe exchanged amused grins.

They looked up when the library doors swung open, and Chloe dropped the newspaper in shock when she recognized the two males strolling into the library.

It---It _couldn't_ be!

"Clark?" She whispered, eyes wide, voice whispery. "_Pete_?"

"There you are!" Pete grinned. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Why is _no one_ in class in this school?"

"I can't _believe _it." Chloe whispered before rushing to embrace the both of them. "What are you two _doing_ here?"

"We had Friday off so we got permission and drove _really fast all night_ from Smallville to see you, since it's the long weekend and all." Pete announced.

"We need to speak to you." Clark announced, quieter. "Privately."

"_Sure_." Chloe nodded, surprised that one could reach Sunnydale from Smallville in a night's drive (she'd thought it would be more than that) and then remembered Giles and Sam. "Uh, oh! I'm sorry, Pete, Clark…this is Mr. Giles, the librarian. And this is Sam, one of my friends that I've told you two about."

They nodded and greeted each other somewhat tensely, before Clark's arm went around Chloe's waist. "We'll be stealing her away." He announced before beginning to lead her out, Pete following.

"I'll be back!" Chloe called over her shoulder as they ushered her out into the hall, moving as one until they were out of the building and on the campus. "Okay guys, why exactly are you here?"

"And here we thought you'd be _happy_ to see us." Pete snorted. "Are you that happy here that you just want to forget about us?"

"What?" Chloe asked, horrified. "Pete—I would _never_---."

"Then why are you never there when we're online or never answer us when we call—when we email?" Pete snapped.

"I _do_ answer!" Chloe bit her bottom lip, looking from one to the other.

"Yeah, with a 'hey Clark, Pete, how are you doing? Sorry can't write much but I'm busy! Miss you! Chloe!' I _feel_ the love, Chloe!" Pete threw his hands in the air.

Chloe flinched back as if hit at the pain on his face. "I'm sorry."

"_Chloe_," Clark sighed, turning her so that she was looking into his face. "We miss you, come back home."

Chloe's eyes widened. "_What_?"

"I already talked to your dad, and my parents." Clark announced, his thumbs rubbing against the skin of her arms. "You can come live with us and your father will pay for your studies and necessities. You can come back home."

Chloe couldn't believe it. "He s-said that?"

"I told you she wouldn't be happy." Pete snorted. "She couldn't care _less_ about us and how we need her. She thinks her new friends are better than us _hicks_."

"I would _never_ think that!" Chloe turned to Pete, needing him to know this. "I love you and Clark like brothers! You have been my best friends since I was young!"

"Then come back with us." Clark pleaded, looking deep into her eyes. "Come back with me. Leave everything here and just _come_."

"I'm _needed_ here." She whispered. She—she was a part of the team here. Sure---sure she didn't exactly know what _part_ of the team she was, but she _was_ a part of it!

"You're needed in _Smallville_. You're needed by us. You're the one who helped us make it bearable!" Pete exclaimed angrily. "You're the reason we've been able to help protect the students from the meteor freaks. You're _needed_ there!"

"I'm needed here too." Chloe tried to protest.

"Really? Why? By _who?_" Pete snorted. "What do you possibly do here that can even _compare_ to the good you do in Smallville? You are a champion of the people! You need to be where the people need you!"

Chloe gulped. "This is a hellmouth. Which means that there are demons and witches and things here that need taken care of. Buffy, my friend, is a Slayer. Giles is her watcher, and Sam and his brother help too. Sam's really intelligent and Dean's good at fighting."

"Then why do they need you?" Pete threw back.

Chloe staggered, having her own doubt thrown in her face. "I---."

"Chloe, they don't need you. You're probably just a burden to them and they're being too nice not to tell you to your face. They don't need you, probably don't even want you here all that much." Clark whispered, leaning down closer to her. "_We_ do. Come back with us. Leave Sunnydale to the Slayer."

"I---I _can't_." Chloe whispered.

Clark's face was heartbroken. "Don't you love us anymore?"

"Of course I do!" She clutched at him. "You're like my brother."

Clark winced. "But they're more important to you than us. You care more about _their _safety than you do ours."

"_No_." Chloe whispered.

"Chloe, you have to _choose_." Clark told her. "You have to choose either life in Sunnydale or Smallville, you have to choose them or _us_. You can't have _both and you know it!_"

She shivered, lowering her gaze, eyes filling with tears.

"_Choose_." Clark whispered. "You're going to lose one someone way or the other."

Chloe's eyes widened as her worst nightmare came true.

"We'll come to your house tonight." Pete told her as Clark let go of her and they began to walk away. "We'll either be there to take you back home with us, or to say our goodbyes forever."

Chloe trembled, fists shaking, before she sniffled and wiped at her eyes. She---she couldn't deal with this right now. She---they had something they needed to do.

Tonight---tonight she'd sort things out.

Heading back to the library, Chloe stopped when she saw Dean there with Sam and Giles, pulling on his gym shirt.

"Where are your other clothes?" She asked.

Everyone turned to her.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Were you crying?"

She ignored him, eyes on Dean.

Dean sighed. "They kinda _vanished_."

Chloe blinked. "What do you _mean_, 'vanished'?"

"One minute I was in the hall fully clothed and the next I'm wearing nothing but _a black thong and the jocks are pinching my ass_." Dean announced. "It was a total _nightmare_! The only good thing was that I have P.E. today so I had my gym clothes with me!"

Chloe froze, eyes narrowing. "What did you say?"

Dean frowned, confused. "Uhm, that I have P.E.--."

"_No_. You said it was a total _nightmare_. Just like Wendell's spiders, just like—just like what happened just now with Clark and Pete. It's a _nightmare_ I've been having." She turned to Giles. "Have you ever had a nightmare about getting lost in the stacks or—I don't know---not being able to _read_?"

"You can't _read_?" Dean turned to Giles in surprise.

Giles opened his mouth before he closed it again, eyes widening. "Our nightmares are coming true."

"And we're thinking Billy has something to do with this, right?" Sam asked, not at all phased by the fact that their nightmares were coming true.

That was just normal life when living on a Hellmouth.

"That's the most likely cause." Giles nodded.

Dean frowned. "And Billy would be…?"

"He's a boy in the local hospital who was beaten into a coma." Chloe explained, beginning to pace the room.

"He must have crossed over from the nightmare world he'd been trapped in," Sam agreed. "And brought the nightmare world with him."

Dean snorted. "Thanks a _bunch_, Billy."

"We have to stop this, and _soon_." Giles announced seriously. "Or else everyone in Sunnydale is going to be facing their own worst fears---and they won't all be as tame as finding themselves wearing a thong surrounded by admirers."

Dean made a face. "Hey! That wasn't harmless! That was _traumatizing_! I'll never feel safe using the boys changing rooms ever again!"

Giles wasn't listening though, his face worried. "We have to find Buffy. She doesn't know what's happening and she's chasing after Billy all over the school as we speak." He reached for his coat. "And given the sort of things she tends to dream about, it's imperative that we find her."

They hurried out of the library in time to see a commotion down the hall. Some nerds were dragging Cordelia towards the chess club. But Cordelia didn't look like she usually did. Her hair was wild and frizzy, she was dressed in the most horrible, unfashionable and unflattering clothes that covered her completely, and she was wearing orthodontic _headgear_.

"No! What are you _doing_?" She screamed, trying her best to fight them, but the skinny boys were apparently _strong_, easily dragging her with them as they neared the chess club. "Hey! _No!_ You don't understand! I don't _wanna_ go!" Cordelia whined and cried. "I'm not even on the chess team! I _swear_ I'm not!"

Chloe didn't know whether to feel sorry for the obviously confused girl or laugh out loud at Cordelia Chase's worst nightmare.

"What the hell do they think they're doing to my woman?" Dean hissed as he took off after them, disappearing into the chess club's room.

"_Dean_!" Cordelia's voice was loud with relief. "Thank _God!_"

Chloe blinked. Cordelia looked _horrible_ and Dean hadn't _cared_. He'd still rushed in after to rescue her from the horrors of sitting down with nerds and playing _chess endlessly._

"He's so _whipped_." Sam chuckled.

Even Giles had to chuckle slightly in amusement before shaking his head. "We need to find Buffy. I'll go this way, you and Sam go that way."

Chloe and Sam nodded before rushing off in their direction. They called Buffy, making their way through the chaos that was the hall, and then they chose a door and entered through it, frowning when they found the next hall vandalized with swastikas spray-painted everywhere.

There was no one in the hallway.

The teens shared wary looks before continuing onwards.

"Buffy?" Chloe called as a light hanging from the ceiling flickered.

There were sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling. The teens pushed through a pair and stopped when suddenly they could hear incessant giggling coming towards them.

Sam pushed Chloe protectively behind him when he saw a shadow through another sheet of plastic.

Suddenly a clown burst through, Sam tensing up in terror as the clown held up a knife.

Chloe's eyes widened as she came face to face with Sam's worst fear.

The clown, still giggling demonically, came at them.

In seconds Sam turned and grabbed Chloe's arm, both beginning to run desperately down the hall, the thing on their trail, laughing loudly. The clown sliced through a sheet of plastic and it was so close that Chloe could feel the wind against her hair, causing her to scream and push forwards.

They got a small lead, leaving the clown a little behind, but as they turned the corner they ran into Giles, nearly falling to the ground, and losing precious seconds.

"No sign of Buffy?" The Watcher asked.

They grabbed hold of him and pulled him along with them as they started running again. He saw the clown and started running as well. Just as they were about to reach the end of the hall, Chloe slipped on a discarded plastic sheet on the floor, going down hard.

Before she could even push herself up something had grabbed her by her hair and thrown her into the wall, the blow to her head disorienting her. She tried to kick out, tried to remember all that Angel had been teaching her, but her world was spinning from the blow and she was somewhat weak as the clown grabbed her by her neck and pinned her to the wall, her feet not touching the ground.

Chloe gasped, trying to breath, but its hold on her neck was unforgiving.

The clown giggled at her. "His worst nightmares come true…" And then it raised its knife to stab her.

"Don't you _touch_ her!" Suddenly hands grabbed the clown's head and jerked it harshly to the side, a loud cracking sound reverberating in the hall as the life left the clown's eyes and its hold on Chloe stopped.

Both she and the clown dropped to the ground.

Hand on her throat, Chloe coughed, breathing in desperate gulps of air. Her green gaze rose to see Sam standing over them, glaring down hatefully at the dead clown before his gaze widened and he turned to look at her. "Chloe? Are you okay?"

She could only look up at him in shock.

He'd faced his greatest fear---for _her_.

A small smile tilted her lips. "Yeah, thanks to you."

He blushed and looked away before offering her his hand and helping her to her feet. They hurried outside.

Sam grinned. "I feel good! I feel liberated!"

"You faced your fear." Giles deduced. "They say that if you face what you fear the most it has no more power over you."

Sam grinned brighter.

People were running past them, screaming, their nightmares becoming alive and making Sunnydale seem like those post-apocalypse movies.

"Things are getting worse." Giles whispered, worried. "In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."

"Well, what do we do to keep that from happening?" Sam asked.

"The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy." Giles replied, watching the chaos around him in frustration. "Where is _Buffy_? She shouldn't be alone out there! She doesn't even know what's going on!"

"We looked all over school for her." Sam pointed out. "So she has to be somewhere else."

"But _where_?" Giles asked.

Chloe, sensing something, turned and blinked in surprise when she saw a dimensional rift to the graveyard across the street. "When did they put a cemetery in across the street?" The men turned to look at where she was pointing. "And when did they make it _night_ over there?"

Sharing a look, realizing that Buffy could have headed there if she'd seen this, the trio hurried to the other side of the road and walked through the rift into the cemetery, into the _night_.

"Whose nightmare is this?" Sam asked, keeping close to Chloe, eyes narrowed, wary.

"It's _mine_," Giles whispered in an agonized voice as he stood in front of a gravestone.

It read: Buffy Summers 1981-1997.

Chloe's eyes widened as they gathered around the grave, Giles kneeling defeated next to it. "I---I failed…in my duty to protect you." He whispered to the grave, voice catching, eyes watering in deep, strong emotion. "I should have been more c…cautious. Taken more time to train you." A tear escaped his eye and he wiped at it. "But you were so _gifted_. And the evil so _great_. I—I'm _so sorry_."

He laid his hand on the fresh soil, as if trying to touch Buffy herself.

Chloe's heart began to break as she saw him so broken. She turned to Sam and hid her face in his shirt, his arms going around her.

As Giles started to get up a hand reached up through the dirt and grabbed his. He cried out, and that caused Chloe and Sam to turn and watch with eyes wide as Buffy came up through the dirt of the grave.

She let go of Giles and stood, brushing herself off as he stood as well.

"Buffy?" Giles whispered, voice breaking in hope.

She looked up and smiled at them, her face that of a vampire. "I thought I was dead!"

"Your _face_…" Sam whispered.

Buffy frowned and slowly felt her face, eyes widening in horror when she realized what'd happened. "Oh, God!" She kept her hands up to her face and turned away from them when Giles took a tentative step towards her. "Don't look at me!"

"You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire." Giles whispered.

"This isn't a dream." Buffy sniffled, back still to him.

Sam and Chloe shared a look, letting Giles handle this.

"No. No, it's not." Giles agreed softly as he went to face her, laying his hands on her shoulders. "But there's a chance that we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if, if we can only wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now. I need you to hold together long enough to help us. Can you do that?"

She looked up at Giles through her fingers, trembling slightly. "Why aren't you disgusted? Why aren't you scared of me? I'm a _monster_!"

Giles looked down tenderly into her face, obviously so very _happy_ that she was alive, even if her face was permanently shifted into a demon's. "You silly little girl." He sighed, resting his forehead against hers and sighing. "You're my Slayer."

Buffy's body trembled violently before she gasped out a sob and threw herself at Giles, burying her face in his shirt, crying loudly and holding tightly.

Giles held her close, whispering words of comfort, cheek pressed against her head.

Buffy nodded, finally pulling away, looking up at Giles in pure adoration.

If she'd been having a huge crush on her Watcher before, his behavior in the face of this situation had obviously caused her to fall head over heels in love with him.

"Let's go." Giles smiled at her.

Buffy nodded, smiling. "Yes, lets."

Together they left the dimensional rip and entered daylight again in time (the sunlight not bothering Buffy despite her being a vampire) to see Dean running with Cordelia, he was in a black thong once more, flowers somehow in his hair. A bunch of nerds with chessboards, and very enamored jocks spouting poetry about Dean's ass, were chasing them. The two chased teenagers held onto each other's hand firmly and ran as fast as they could.

Shaking their heads at them, Sam, Chloe, Buffy and Giles turned and hurried to the hospital, where pandemonium reigned. Buffy filling in the pieces of what she'd done while with Billy Palmer, the little boy. Apparently he'd played little league and he was number nineteen.

"Lucky nineteen." Giles and Chloe had said at the same time.

Buffy also told them about this disfigured, huge and grotesque man who had a club for a hand and was too strong for even _her_ to fight who was trying to kill Billy.

They raced down the chaotic hospital's hall and into the boy's room, seeing that he was still lying in comatose as nightmares took over the world.

"What now?" Sam asked.

"Um…" Giles bent down to Billy. "Billy! Billy?"

"That won't work." Billy whispered.

Everyone turned towards the voice, Billy's astral body standing by the curtains.

Giles looked up at him. "Billy! Uh, Billy, you have to wake up."

"No," the boy shook his head, frightened. "I told her." He pointed to Buffy. "I have to hide."

"Why?" Sam asked. "From what?"

"From him!" Buffy exclaimed from where she was standing by the doorway, looking down the hall.

Chloe hurried to Buffy's side and looked down the hall, eyes widening as she saw an ugly, huge, deformed man coming towards them.

"I tried fighting him before." Buffy whispered, turning to Chloe. "I couldn't. He's too strong."

"Buffy, you can do this." Chloe placed her hand on her shoulder. "You're a vampire **and** a Slayer, that should make you doubly strong right now."

Buffy paused, golden eyes widening. "You're right." She smiled, showing a hint of fangs. The Slayer took off her jacket and passed it to Chloe, before heading out into the hall. "Hey you! Glad you showed up!"

"Lucky nineteen!" The ugly man with the club for a hand grunted out.

"_Scary_!" Buffy taunted, hands on her hips. "I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you." She took two steps forwards into the light. "And I'm one of them."

The ugly man stopped in his tracks and just looked at her.

Buffy, empowered by his reaction, roared and ran to attack. She jumped on him, knocking him down, and punched him twice in the face. The Slayer tried for a third punch, but he blocked her and got his foot under her stomach. He pushed hard, and Buffy fell backwards.

Getting up quickly, she roundhouse kicked him in the gut, making him double over, but he pushed her into the window of Billy's room and then threw her into the opposite wall. He tried to punch her with his club arm, but she ducked, and his arm slammed into the wall.

Buffy came up behind him and side kicked him in the back. He slammed into her, knocking her through the door and into Billy's room, against his bed.

Chloe rushed to Buffy's side.

As the ugly man stormed in after her, heading towards the girls, Sam picked up a chair and swung at his head, sending the man into the wall. A sound of pained surprise escaped his lips as he caught the chair when Sam swung it at him again, and the ugly man pulled it out of Sam's grip, throwing it behind him and charging the boy.

Sam backed up, looking behind him quickly to make sure he wasn't backing up into anything. The ugly man swung at Sam with his club arm, and Sam dodged the blow, eyes narrowed.

Buffy shook her head, coming back too after the blow to the head and looking up at the ugly man, who had his back to her and his full attention on Sam.

The man swung again with his club arm, but Sam, anticipating this, grabbed it and roughly brought it down, breaking it over his knees.

The man wailed in pain.

Buffy took the distraction and roared as she charged and jumped on him from behind. The man jerked around, trying to get her off of him, and then screamed when Buffy buried her fangs into his neck and began to drink. His movements became more sluggish until he finally fell to his feet and then collapsed the rest of the way, dead.

Buffy sat on his back, blood running down the side of her mouth.

Chloe rushed to her. "Chloe, are you okay?" She wiped at the face.

"I---I _killed him_----I---I _drank his blood_!" Buffy was beginning to freak out. "Instincts just took over and I was hungry since I rose and--!" Her eyes widened in horror as she pushed Chloe away. "Get away from me! I'm an animal! A _monster_! Get away!"

Slapping at Buffy's hands, Chloe threw her arms around the Slayer/Vampire and hugged her tightly despite her struggles.

Buffy suddenly stopped struggling and held onto Chloe, crying.

"Is he---dead?" Billy whispered.

Sam reached out to the little boy. "Come here Billy."

"I, I don't…"

"He'll return if you don't." Sam knelt in front of the frightened boy. "I had to face my own fear, and you need to do the same thing, that's the only way he'll go away."

Billy looked fearfully into Sam's face before putting his hand in the one Sam offered and letting the older boy lead him to the body on the floor.

Buffy stopped crying, and let Chloe help her stand, leaning her head against Chloe's shoulder, watching Billy. "Go on, you can do it. No one else can."

Billy took in a deep breath and bent down, reaching for the ugly man's neck. He slowly peeled back his face, and a bright light streamed out.

In the next instant everything was back to normal. The ugly man was gone, Buffy's face was human was once, and the hospital was functioning normally, doctors and patients walking peacefully down the halls.

Buffy touched her face and gave a little squeak of happiness, hugging Chloe and sending Sam an elated grin before throwing herself into the arms of a surprised Giles.

"Hey," Sam smiled, looking at Billy, as the boy awoke from where he was lying in the hospital bed. "He's waking up!"

They all smiled and gathered around the bed.

Billy yawned and rubbed his eyes, looking at them. "I had the strangest dream. And you were in it, and you…Who _are_ you people?"

They all smiled.

"Let's get a doctor." Giles turned to Sam. They headed towards the door and were about to leave the room when a man in a coaching outfit appeared and blocked the way.

"Oh!" The man announced, seeing them. "Huh. Billy's got company." He took off his cap. "I-I-I'm his kiddie league coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon." He cleared his throat. "He's, uh, my lucky nineteen."

Giles and Buffy exchanged a look.

Chloe narrowed her eyes and Sam clenched his fist.

Sensing the dark mood in the room, the coach cleared his throat once more, obviously nervous. "So, um, how is he?"

Chloe stepped aside to show him that Billy was awake. "He's awake."

The coach's eyes widened in horror and he took a couple of disbelieving steps into the room. "What?"

"Billy told me that they lost the game, that he didn't catch a ball he should have. You blamed him for losing the game." Buffy spoke, shaking her head, face made up in disgust. "So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" The coach asked, acting innocent…badly.

Billy sat up, glaring at the coach. "You said that it was my fault that we lost."

The coach, realizing that he'd been found out, tried to get away, but Sam was ready and grabbed him by the jacket, stopping him.

"It wasn't my fault." Billy told the coach. "There's eight other players on the team. You know that." Then, tired, he laid down again.

Buffy smiled proudly at him.

Billy smiled back.

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Back in school, the school bell rung announcing the end of the school day, and the students all rushed out, happy to be going back home, willing to forget that the weird things that'd happened that day had happened. It was amazing just _how strong_ denial truly was.

"I just can't believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that." Buffy shook her head as they walked towards the bus.

"Well, you obviously haven't played kiddie league." Dean quipped, now fully clothed once more. "I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents."

Chloe sighed. It was so much easier when the bad guys were actually monsters and not humans. "I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs."

"So, what exactly was _your_ biggest nightmare?" Dean asked Chloe, surprising her. "We all know everyone else's. Buffy was afraid of becoming a vampire, English was afraid of Buffy dying, Sammy was afraid of _clowns,_ and I'm not that hot on public nudity _or_ guys bigger than I am comparing my ass to the pale moon on a starless night." He paused, making a disgusted face and shaking his head with a shiver before returning his attention to her. "But what was yours? Sam said that your two friends from Smallville appeared, so they have something to do with it, obviously."

Chloe winced, the attention on her. "They---they wanted me to choose between my life here and my life there. They told me that I didn't have a purpose here. And, in a way, they were right. Sam's super intelligent, Dean's great at strategies, and Buffy's the Slayer. I don't do anything special in this group."

The brothers shared a disbelieving look.

Buffy snorted, shaking her head, putting her arm around Chloe's shoulders and hugging her close. "You're an idiot."

Chloe looked up at her friend through teary eyes, a little surprised. She'd just bared her soul to them and hadn't expected that reaction.

"Who does Winchester go to when he wants to whine about Queen C? Who defends Sam's manhood? Who's the only one who volunteers to help Giles at _researching_ when everyone else makes excuses not to? And last but definitely not least, who is the one person who would hug me close when I'm vamped out and have the blood of my victim still on my lips?" Buffy asked, smiling tenderly into Chloe's face. "Chloe. You _idiot_. You're the most important person on this team. You're the glue that keeps us together."

Sam grinned and Dean nodded in agreement, reaching over to mess up her hair affectionately.

Chloe smiled at them all before hugging Buffy tightly.

She laughed and cried, feeling like she really belonged in this group for the first time as the boys joined in on the hug.

Chloe closed her eyes and smiled

She finally felt _home_.

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**Review?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, OR Supernatural.**

Wanna thank ChamberlinofMusic, Kit Merlot, bushlaboo, Veronica, Scullyga, DiscoLemonadeDiva, Ev, and NiminariAmriath for reviewing the previous chapter.

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"I just _love_ springtime." Cordelia Chase announced. She had her arms around her current boyfriend, Mitch, and they and Harmony (her blonde friend) were walking down the halls together.

Chloe, who had the same class, was trailing listlessly behind, casting glances in every direction for her friends, wondering exactly where everyone had disappeared to this morning.

"Me and bright spring fashion!" Cordelia continued on.

"Spring training." Mitch added.

Cordelia grinned. "Me at the end of school dance."

"The end of school." Harmony piped up.

Cordelia giggled. "_Definitely_. My favorite time of the year. I am, of course, having my dress specially made. Off the rack gives me hives." She made a face at the thought.

Mitch leaned towards her. "Lemme guess: blue, like your eyes!" He laughed."

Chloe rolled her eyes.

Cordelia laughed. "My eyes are _hazel_, Helen Keller."

"You two will look so amazing together in the May Queen photo." Harmony gushed.

"Well, I haven't been elected May Queen _yet_," Cordelia grinned. "But you _know_ I'll look great!"

Chloe rolled her eyes and ignored the self-involved trio in front of her. She lost herself in her thoughts, grinning. Sunnydale gave its students two weeks off for spring break, and Chloe already had her ticket to go to Smallville. The arrangements had already been made and Clark had seemed more excited than her despite the fact that he'd be giving up his bedroom for those days.

After the nightmare situation with Billy Palmer (who was fully recuperated by now thank god) Chloe had decided to make the extra effort to keep into closer contact with Pete and Clark so that they'd never feel the way they had when her nightmare had become real.

As Chloe entered Ms. Miller's English class, she spied her friends there already seated and talking. They smiled and exchanged waves before she sat down and class started. They were discussing 'The Merchant of Venice'.

"'If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?'" Ms. Miller looked at the class and put down her book. "Okay, so talk to me, people. How does what Shylock say here about the Jews relate to our discussion about the anger of the outcast in society?"

Cordelia's hand went up. "Well, how about color me totally self-involved?"

Ms. Miller raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Care to elaborate?"

"Yeah." Cordelia nodded. "With Shylock it's whine, whine, whine, like the whole world is about him. He acts like it's justice, him getting a pound of Antonio's flesh." She made a face. "It's not justice---it's _yicky_."

"But has Shylock suffered?" Ms. Miller asked. "What's his place in Venice society?"

"Everyone looked down on him." Dean announced, ignoring Cordelia completely, though his jaw was clenched angrily.

Chloe had thought that after the nightmare episode those two would come clean about their feelings for each other, but Dean had immediately scoped out another girl, and Cordelia had gotten with Mitch.

And they were pissed with each other because of it.

Cordelia snorted in disgust. "That is _such_ a twinkie defense. Shylock should get over himself. People who think their problems are so huge craze me! Like this time I sort of ran over this girl on her bike. It was the most traumatizing event of _my_ life and she's trying to make it about _her_ leg!" She placed her hand to her heart. "Like _my_ pain meant _nothing_!"

Dean groaned and lowered his forehead to the desk, shaking his head.

Chloe bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She doubted Cordelia would see the humor.

"Well, Cordelia's raised an interesting point here." Ms. Miller announced as the bell rung. "Which we'll pursue at a later time."

The students got up to leave and Cordelia went to the teacher's desk. "Ms. Miller?"

Ms. Miller smiled at her. "Good observation today, Cordelia. It's always exciting to know someone's actually done the reading."

Dean snorted in disgust and stormed out of the classroom, Sam sending Chloe an 'I better make sure he doesn't do something stupid' look before heading out after him.

"Thanks." Cordelia beamed at the teacher. "Um, I wanna talk to you about my final paper. I'm real unfocused. I have all these thoughts and I'm pretty sure they all contradict each other."

The teacher nodded. "Well, I have your outline here, but why don't you stop by tomorrow after school? We'll go over it then."

"That'd be great!" Cordelia smiled brightly. "Thanks a lot!" She hurried out into the hall.

Chloe, surprised that Cordelia actually _cared_ about her grades, shook her head and shared a look with Buffy as they left the classroom.

"So how come you were here so early?" Chloe asked as they walked into the hall, going towards their next class.

"I came by to help Giles put away some new books that came from the Watcher's Council." She grinned. "It was boring in itself, but I got to talk a lot with Giles with it just being us two and I think he's really opening up to me! He _smiles_ a lot more, anyway. And that's a start, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Chloe grinned, nodding.

Ever since the Vampire!Buffy incident, and Giles' reaction to it, Buffy had fallen completely in love with her Watcher. It was entirely too cute to behold.

Cordelia, large box in hand, handed a chocolate to one of the boys while campaigning for May Queen. "Now remember who to vote for for May Queen! As in me!"

The boy smiled at her. "Thanks."

Seeing Harmony, Cordelia walked over to her. "Hi! Isn't this the bomb? I'm _such_ the campaign strategist!"

Harmony picked up one of the chocolates and noticed the "C" on the wrapper. "C for Cordelia?"

"No, C for Wilma, little brain!" Cordelia laughed. "Of _course_ C for Cordelia! This way people will associate me with something sweet!"

Buffy snorted. "Will take more than _chocolate_ to do _that_!"

Cordelia absently continued to the next student, which happened to be Chloe. "Here's a chocolate to remind you who to vote for!"

Chloe smiled but shook her head. "Uhm, thanks, but no thanks."

"You sure? They're _Parisian_!" Cordelia wriggled the wrapper temptingly.

Despite the fact that Chloe's group and Cordelia's group hated each other on sight, there was a small but existing truce between her and the brunette. Even if Cordelia pretended to not remember much of anything that'd happened the night of the Harvest little actions proved that she remembered Chloe saving her life, and she never teased or taunted her like the others.

It was…kinda nice.

"I'm sure." Chloe nodded. "I'm voting for you anyway so I don't need the bribe."

"Thanks!" Cordelia grinned brightly before ignoring Buffy and going over to the next student with her chocolatey bribes.

"You're voting for her?" Buffy asked in horror. "_Really_?"

"Why not?" Chloe asked as they continued on their way.

"She's pure evil?" Buffy ventured a guess.

Chloe laughed. "You _do_ know that she detests you because she thinks you have something for Dean, right?"

"With _Winchester_?" Buffy made up her nose. "_Eeew_!"

Chloe grinned. "Well, Cordelia doesn't think he's _eeww_. And the four of us are always spending time together and I'm usually talking more to _Sam_, so she sees you as going after _Dean_."

Buffy shook her head at the thought. "She's jealous of me."

Chloe nodded.

Buffy grinned. "_She's_ jealous of _me_! There _is_ justice in this world!"

They paused, frowning as they reached the gym and saw the crowd gathering around.

"What happened?" Someone asked someone else.

"Mitch got whaled on!" Someone responded. "I think he's…"

"Dead?" Principal Snyder snorted, glaring at some students who were congregated around him. "Of course not! What are you, ghouls?" Everyone turned to look when the paramedics opened the doors to the gym and wheeled Mitch out. "There are _no_ dead students here…_this week_." He cleared his throat. "Clear back, make room, all of you!"

Buffy moved forwards and grabbed the gurney, stopping it. "Mitch, what happened?"

"I don't know." The bloodied, bruised boy that could hardly be recognized as Mitch responded. "I, I heard something. I tried to grab a, a bat…" He guffawed, unable to believe what he was saying. "…that hit me."

"What hit you?" Chloe narrowed her eyes.

"The bat!" Mitch exclaimed. "By itself! The thing was floating and it knocked me out!"

The paramedics, obviously fearing him delusional, wheeled him away.

Buffy turned to Chloe. "I'd better check out the scene. You go find Giles." She turned and started towards the locker room.

Snyder zeroed in on her with a sneer. "And where do you think _you're_ going?" Unlike Principal Flutie, Principal Snyder was rough, mean, suspicious, and completely sure Buffy was going to be the end of Sunnydale High.

The Slayer stopped and faced him, wincing slightly at having forgotten he was there. "Um, Mitch wanted me to get his comb. He, uh, he likes his comb."

Snyder shook his head in disgust. "I don't think Mitch needs his comb right now. I think Mitch needs medical attention."

Chloe bit her bottom lip nervously. Buffy was going to get herself in a detention somehow in the next couple of minutes, she was _sure_ of it.

Snyder took a menacing step towards the Slayer. "And _you_ need to stay away from the crime scene! Always sticking your nose in…"

Chloe sighed before hurrying to Snyder's side, eyes wide. "Principal Snyder! Is it _true_ that Mitch is gonna sue the school?"

Snyder's eyes went wide and on her immediately, forgetting all about Buffy. "Sue? Who? Can he really afford to do that?"

Buffy mouthed a 'thank you' to Chloe behind Snyder's back before slipping into the locker room.

Chloe nodded, making her face as innocent as possible, as she kept her attention fully on the tiny, short yet menacing Principal. "You know his dad, Hank Morgan. He's the most powerful lawyer in Sunnydale."

"Hold on, this is serious." Snyder grabbed her arm and began leading her away. "Where did you hear this?"

"Cordelia was talking to Harmony. Said that Hank would probably bring the school down if anything ever happened to his son." Chloe replied truthfully. She _had_ heard Cordelia say that…weeks ago. "You _know_ everyone calls him 'the Beast'—Mr. Morgan, I mean."

Snyder went pale. "No, no, no. That can't happen." He patted her shoulder. "Good girl." And then he took off like lightening after the gurney. "Mr. Morgan!"

Chloe grinned as she watched him run, before shaking her head and going to the library to tell Giles about what had happened. She'd barely had time to fill him in before the bell rung and she headed to her next class. They were all unable to congregate until lunchtime, Giles even sitting next to them at their isolated table.

"'Look'?" Sam frowned, leaning forwards on the table, gaze on Buffy. "That's all that was written on the locker doors where Mitch was attacked?"

"Look at what?" Dean asked, frowning. "Look at Mitch?"

"Maybe." Buffy shrugged. "All I know is that it's a message."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "And you're stating the obvious _because…?"_

Buffy glared at him.

Giles answered. "Monster don't usually send messages. It's pretty much crush, kill, and destroy. This was different." He sighed. "It's a bit of a puzzle, really. Um, I've never actually _heard_ of anyone attacked by a lone baseball bat before."

Dean suddenly smirked. "Maybe it's a vampire bat." Seeing no response to that he made a face. "Oh _come on!_ That was funny!"

They all ignored him, turning to look at Giles for him to continue.

Dean pouted, mumbling how no one had a sense of humor anymore.

"Well," Giles continued. "Assuming the bat itself is not possessed, there are a few possibilities that bear investigating. Uh, someone with telekinesis, uh, which we all know is the power to move objects at will---."

"Psychokinesis." Sam interrupted.

Giles raised an eyebrow at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Psychokinesis." Sam looked a little embarrassed. "The books I've been reading from Ms. Calendar? They say that telekinesis is the antiquated term, no one uses it anymore. Instead they say _psychokinesis_."

Giles eyed Sam for a moment before continuing. "So, so far our options are _psychokinesis_, an invisible creature, or possibly a poltergeist."

"A ghost?" Chloe asked, intrigued.

"Yes," the Watcher nodded. "And a very angry one."

"Yeah, I'd say!" Buffy nodded. "The locker room was a real scene."

"If it's a ghost, then we're talking about a dead kid." Sam summarized.

"Yeah." Dean agreed before turning to his brother. "Why don't you compile a list of dead or missing kids? It's probably a good place to start."

By now everyone was used to Dean giving out good suggestions and didn't even blink at this.

"And I'll research all the possibilities," Giles nodded. "Ghosts included."

"Do you want some help?" Chloe offered.

Giles smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask. I'll be needing another set of eyes."

"And _I'm_ gonna find out what I can about Mitch." Buffy decided. "This attack wasn't random. I'm going to have to talk to his friends…" She made a face. "To _Cordelia_." She suddenly turned to Dean, eyes wide.

As if reading her mind, Dean quickly turned to Giles, nearly desperately. "And I'll help you and Chloe research! You _did_ say you needed more eyes, right?"

"Well, yes." Giles nodded, a little shocked at Dean's fervent offer.

Obviously the Watcher hadn't realized that Dean was desperate to do this since the Slayer had been about to make _him_ talk to Cordelia about Mitch.

Buffy pouted.

Chloe took pity on the Slayer. "If you want, I could go with you for the talk to Cordelia part and then hurry back to Giles."

Buffy lit up immediately. "Yes! Please!"

Finishing her drink, Chloe stood. "Come on, let's do this. I have free period after lunch so I have some time."

They searched the school for Cordelia and found on her the balcony, talking to Harmony.

"You weren't in fifth period." The blonde was saying.

"I went to the hospital." Cordelia sighed.

"Oh, right, _Mitch_." Harmony nodded. "How is he? Will he be okay?"

"Well, the doctor says he'll be fine. They're gonna send him home tomorrow. But…you should have seen him lying there. All black and blue?" Cordelia turned her troubled gaze on the blonde. "How's he gonna look in our _Prom_ pictures? How am I _ever_ gonna be able to _show_ them to anyone?"

Buffy snorted, shaking her head. "And just when I thought she'd grown a soul."

Harmony didn't look at all surprised by this logic of Cordelia's. "Well, they _can_ do wonderful things with airbrushes these days."

"You think?" Cordelia asked, hopeful, as they walked along the balcony towards the stairs. "I just hope they can prop him up long enough to take the picture."

Buffy shook her head and stormed towards them. "Cordelia, can I talk to you?"

Cordelia stopped and made a face. "Oh _great_."

Harmony sneered at Buffy. "Why is she always try…" She screamed as she jerked backwards and started to tumble down the stairs. Buffy, Cordelia, Chloe and other hurried down after her.

Principal Snyder, who'd been patrolling the grounds as always, distrustful of students (as always), saw it too…and hurried towards the fallen girl.

"Harmony!" Cordelia cried as she reached her friend.

"Oh, for heaven sakes!" Principal Snyder appeared. "Clear back, everyone! Give her some air!" He turned to a random student. "You! School nurse, now!"

The student nodded and scrambled to get the nurse.

"Ow!" Harmony cried from here she was sprawled on the ground. "Oh, my ankle! I think it's broken!"

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

Snyder glared at Buffy. "Hey! Who's the principal here?" He turned to Harmony. "What happened?"

"She fell!" Cordelia answered. "She, she, we were standing at the top of the stairs and she just _fell!_ All by herself!"

"No!" Harmony shook her head. "I was _pushed_!"

Buffy frowned, leaning towards Chloe and whispering. "Do you hear that?"

Chloe frowned, listening intently. "No."

"I'm going to follow it." Buffy hurried passed the students and bounded up the stairs.

Snyder bent down and touched Harmony's ankle.

"OW!" She screamed.

"Don't sue." He commanded.

Nothing utterly spectacular happened for the rest of the day, and the Slayer's gang huddled outside of the main entrances as the students left for the day. Chloe noticed two men in black suits watching the students' activity but she just guessed that after these two events the police had been called in---or maybe the school had hired security guards.

It was about _time_ if you asked her.

"Giles, have you ever touched a ghost?" Buffy asked, obviously remembering the thing she'd chased after. She'd chased the invisible thing to the band room and then there'd been nothing.

"Uh, no." The Watcher shook his head. "From what I've heard, though, having a ghost pass through you is a singular experience. It's a, it's a rather _cold_ amorphous feeling. It makes your hair stand on end."

"You see, that's my problem." The Slayer turned to her Watcher. "I touched the thing, but it didn't go through me. It bumped _into_ me. And it wasn't cold."

"So we're talking about what, an invisible person?" Dean asked.

"A girl." Buffy nodded. "She laughed."

Girls frowned. "A girl on campus with the ability to become invisible." He shook his head. "It must be a fairly heady experience…having that ability."

"How'd she get it?" Sam asked. "Is she a witch? 'Cause we know we can fight a witch."

"Greek myths speak about cloaks of invisibility, but they're usually for the gods." Chloe shrugged.

"This girl's sorta petty for a god." Buffy shook her head.

"She's obviously got a grudge." Sam announced. "But why Harmony?"

"Harmony and Mitch." Buffy shook her head. "What's the common denominator?"

Dean paled. "_Cordelia_." He turned to Buffy. "We have to find this chick before she hurts her!"

Buffy nodded her agreement. "I know, but first things first." She turned to Sam. "When you go home, why don't you pull up that missing kids list? It might help us figure out who the culprit is."

"Sure." Sam nodded.

"I'll help." Dean announced, grabbing his brother's arm. "Come on, let's go!"

They watched as Dean hurriedly dragged his brother away.

Giles shook his head and returned his attention to the girls. "So, I'll look into ways that you can de-cloak an invisible someone."

"I'll help." Chloe volunteered. Again.

Buffy blinked in surprise. "Isn't tonight one of your _Angel_ Nights?"

Chloe blushed slightly. "Yeah. But this is more important." Anyway, the 'Angel Nights' had been kinda awkward since '_The Incident'_, so she wasn't too heartbroken about missing it.

"Okay…" Buffy eyed her oddly before shaking her head and grinning. "I think Cordelia's gonna be working on her May Queen dress tonight here at the school. Maybe there'll be some action. Guess I'm gonna start the hunt."

Giles tilted his head slightly. "How exactly do you propose to hunt someone you can't see?"

Buffy gave him a curious look. "I hadn't thought about that."

He suddenly smirked. "You may have to work on actually listening to people."

She made a face at him. "Very funny."

"I thought so." Giles grinned broadly.

Chloe giggled and shook her head at them.

They continued talking until everyone left, and then they headed inside, Buffy out to patrol the halls stealthily and Chloe and Giles in the library, going over all the invisibility lore that Giles had at his disposal.

It had gotten dark by the time the music started. Chloe had noticed it before on nights when she would be studying with Giles, but now it seemed eerie, the flute sounding melancholy and bewitching.

She often wondered where the music came from.

Getting up, she joined Giles in the stacks. "Found it?" She asked, referring to the book Giles had been looking for for the last twenty minutes.

"Yes." Giles nodded.

Chloe looked at her and Giles' reflection in the glass-enclosed bookcase, trying to fix her hair and sighing at the tired bags under her eyes, before turning to go and giving a little cry when she nearly ran into Angel. "What are you doing here?" She quickly looked back at her reflection but didn't see one for Angel.

_So the lore about no reflection is true…_

"You were not at your house." Angel announced, a little accusingly.

"Yeah, about that, something came up." Chloe smiled apologetically. "And since _someone_ hasn't given me a phone number or a way to get into contact with him, I couldn't let you know."

Giles cleared his throat. "Hello Angel, its good to see you again."

The vampire nodded, his gaze going to the Watcher standing behind Chloe. "You too Rupert, and under better circumstances then the first time we met."

Chloe winced. They'd met while she'd been unconscious from an attack from Angel's sire, Darla. The marks of the bite on her shoulder had disappeared, but Chloe could sometimes feel a stab of pain where they used to be.

Giles nodded. "Chloe, uh, Chloe tells us that you don't feed from humans anymore."

Angel's gaze went to Chloe and then to Giles, nodding once more. "Not for a long while."

"This is _most fascinating_." Giles announced, looking like he'd like nothing better than to sit the vampire down and interview him. But the situation at hand needed their complete attention so he sighed. "Was there anything we could do to help you?"

"I didn't only come here to make sure Chloe was okay." Angel admitted, attention now fully on the Watcher. "I know you've been researching the Master."

Giles nodded, frowning. "Yes, the vampire king. I've tried to learn as much as I can about him for the day that Buffy must face him."

Angel's expression darkened. "Something's already in motion, something big, but I don't know what. I think it might have something to do with the Anointed One."

"Oh, well, we destroyed the Anointed." Giles shook his head. "So it must be something else."

"Oh." Angel nodded after a moment. "You've read all the Slayer lore there is, right?"

"I've studied all the extant volumes, of course." The Watcher pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. "But the, uh, most salient books of Slayer prophecy have been lost. The Tiberius Manifesto, the Permamum Codex…"

Angel looked up at that. "The Codex?"

Giles nodded. "It's reputed to have contained the most complete prophecies about the Slayer's role in the end years. Unfortunately the book was lost in the 15th century."

"Not lost. _Misplaced._" Angel smirked. "I can get it."

Giles exhaled, astounded. "That would be most helpful! Uh, m-my own volumes have…been rather useless of late."

Angel's gaze went to the book in Giles' hand and he raised an eyebrow. "Legends of Vishnu?"

Giles smiled, a bit embarrassed. "There's an…invisible girl terrorizing the school."

Angel turned to Chloe immediately, eyes narrowed and intense as his hands went to her shoulders. "Are you okay? Has she come after you?"

"I'm fine, and _no_, she hasn't come after me." Chloe smiled up at him, blushing slightly at his intense worry about her. Even if he'd been acting odd around her lately, his reactions tonight made her wonder if it was because what'd happened between them that night had shaken him up more—and made him feel more—than he wanted to admit (to both her and himself).

Angel continued to look down into her eyes before clearing his throat and looking away, pulling his hands from her shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow night then."

"No you won't." Chloe shook her head. "Tomorrow night's a Jenny Calendar night, remember?"

Angel frowned slightly.

Giles cleared his throat. "I am _sure_ Ms. Calendar wouldn't mind _one_ night without your company, Chloe. It _is_ imperative that you learn self defense." He turned to Angel. "Thank you very much for taking time to teach her, by the way."

Angel smiled at Giles and nodded.

Chloe looked from one to the other.

What exactly was going on here?

Had Giles just given his consent to this? (Whatever _this_ was?)

Him?

A _Watcher_?

"Jenny's not going to be happy." Chloe warned.

"Miss Calendar displeased?" Giles grinned brightly. "How utterly _devastating_." And with that he began to hum contentedly as he headed out of the stacks to continue researching, waiting on Buffy to return from her patrol.

Alone in the dark stacks, Chloe and Angel both cleared their throats and lowered their gazes, yet none made a move to leave.

"So…" Chloe broke the silence, gaze on her shoes. "Are you done avoiding touching me like I have the plague?"

"_Chloe_…" Angel sighed. "What happened the other night…"

"Was _amazing_." She gathered up her courage to look up at him through her lashes.

"It was _dangerous_." Angel forced his gaze on her as well, and it was _hungry_. "I'm a _vampire_, Chloe. And yet you seem to forget that, you seem to think that I'm a normal teenaged boy!"

Chloe shook her had, chuckling darkly. "Are you kidding me? Angel, you had your demon face on part of the time. Believe me, I _never_ forget that you're a vampire." She blushed. "I don't like you _despite_ it, it's---it's actually one of the things I _like_ about you---as crazy as that may be."

Angel went still, eyes flickering golden and before he closed them and took in a deep, unnecessary breath. "I could _kill_ you in bloodlust, Chloe. And you're foolhardy! You _provoke_ me on purpose!"

She bit her lip, having to agree with that. "But you didn't kill me, Angel. You didn't even _hurt_ me." She took in a deep breath and took a step towards him.

He gulped and took a step back. "I left _bruises_ on your skin for _weeks_."

Chloe blushed. "I _liked_ them."

A whimper escaped his lips. "_Chloe_…" His eyes were flickering like crazy. "I'm trying to _protect_ you!"

"I know." She stepped on her tiptoes, still not meeting him face to face due to his height, but at least bringing their faces closer.

"Giles!" Buffy's voice could be heard, the shock causing them to jerk apart. "Cordelia and her posse just left. This was a total waste of my time!"

Angel cleared his throat. "I should go." He turned and left.

Chloe watched him leave and sighed.

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The next day Cordelia was declared May Queen by almost unanimous votes.

Outside, listening to Cordelia give her acceptance speech (she would be crowned that night at the Bronze), the group of four decided that even though nothing had happened the night before Cordelia was still somehow the key in this.

Sam had shown Buffy the dead and missing students list. He'd even pulled up their classes, activities, medical records, and Buffy had looked over them while Chloe frowned, noticing the same two men in black suits loitering on the campus, looking around.

She had been about to comment on it when Buffy had waved the file of a girl named Marcie Ross, she was the latest to have gone missing, and had disappeared six months ago. Neither Sam nor Dean remembered ever having seen the girl before.

Marcie's only activity had been _band_, and she'd played the _flute_. Buffy had announced that since she'd lost the invisible girl in the band room, and heard a flute playing the night before while she was on patrol, Marcie seemed like their best option.

Chloe agreed.

The bell had rung and Buffy decided to ditch geometry to check out of the band room. Afterwards, when school had ended, they'd congregated at the library, listening to Buffy tell them about what she'd discovered while snooping around.

"A nest?" Giles frowned.

The Slayer nodded. "In the ceiling above the band room. It looked like she'd been there for months. It's where I found this." She opened a yearbook and put in on the table for everyone to see.

Sam made a face as he read what was written there. "'Have a nice summer' 'Have a nice summer'…Gees. This girl had no friends at all."

Giles raised an eyebrow at them in confusion. "Uh, once again I teeter at the precipice of the generation gap."

Buffy decided to explain. "'Have a nice summer' is what you write when you have nothing to say."

"It's like the kiss of social death." Dean agreed.

Buffy turned to him and Sam. "You guys didn't know Marcie Ross?"

Sam shook his head. "Never met her. Why?"

"Because you both wrote it too." She pointed to Dean's signature.

Dean leaned over to get a better look, eyes narrowed. "'Have a nice…' Yeesh!"

"Where's mine?" Sam asked, and then winced when Buffy pointed to his. "Okay, I feel really bad right now."

"You guys really don't remember her?" Chloe asked, surprised.

Dean shook his head. "No, I probably didn't see her except to sign the book. I mean, this is a big school."

Sam frowned, looking over the printouts. "Dean. We each had four classes with her last year."

"_What_?" Dean snatched the printouts from his brother and looked them over. "That's _impossible_."

"So no one noticed her, and now she's invisible." Chloe blinked, leaning back against her seat. "The _irony_."

Dean frowned, looking up from the printouts. "What? You're saying she turned invisible just because no one noticed her?"

Everyone jumped in surprise when Giles suddenly hit the table. "Of course!" He got and headed towards a bookshelf. "I've been investigating the mystical causes of invisibility when I should have looked a the quantum mechanical!" Hearing the silence he turned and noticed their blank expressions. "Physics."

Buffy blinked. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, _huh_?"

Giles grabbed a book. "It's a rudimentary concept that reality is shaped…even _created_…by our perception."

Chloe was beginning to understand. "And with the Hellmouth below us sending out mystical energy…"

Sam finished, having understood as well. "We saw Marcie as invisible, so she _became_ invisible." His eyes widened in horror. "This isn't a great power she has that she can control. It's something that _we did to her_."

Dean snorted. "No wonder she's pissed."

"But what does she want?" Sam asked.

"Just what we thought." Buffy announced. "Cordelia." She turned the yearbook to the boys to show them the marked up picture of Cordelia.

At that moment the library doors swung open and Cordelia surprised everyone by entering. "I knew you'd be here!" She hurried to the table, pale, shaky. "Dean, I know you and I don't get along, with you being such a manwhorish idiot and hanging out with these total _rejects_…"

Buffy shook her head, unable to believe this.

"Ooo!" Cordelia trudged on, exhaling. "Well, anyway, despite all of that I know you're a decent human being _deep_ down inside…"

"Gee, _thanks_." Dean snorted.

"…And I genuinely like Chloe!" Cordelia hurried on.

Dean just glared at her. "Is this going somewhere?"

"Somebody is after me!" Cordelia exclaimed. "They just tried to kill Ms. Miller! She was helping me with my homework. And Mitch? My boyfriend. And Harmony? My friend! This is all about me! Me, me, me!"

"Wow." Sam snorted. "For _once_ she's right."

Cordelia ignored that.

Dean raised an eyebrow at his ex. "So you've come to _me_ for help."

The brunette nodded. "Because you are always around when all this weird stuff is happening, and I know you're very strong," she turned to Buffy. "And I've seen _you_ with all these different _weapons_…I…I was kinda hoping you were in a gang."

"I don't believe this." Buffy shook her head.

"Please!" Cordelia's voice broke. "I don't have anyone else to turn to!"

Dean's anger broke in the face of her desperation. He sighed. "You better sit down then."

Chloe pulled out the seat next to her.

"_Thank_ you." Cordelia whispered, sitting down.

"You know, I…I don't recall ever seeing you here before." Giles announced.

"Oh, no." Cordelia shook her head, politely. "I have a life."

"_Okay_." Buffy exhaled. "Cordelia, your attacker is an invisible girl."

"Who is _really, really_ angry at you," Dean added somewhat tensely. "Which I…can't imagine _personally_, but it…takes all kinds, y'know?"

"Invisible girl, okay." Cordelia nodded, taking this all in with relative ease. "How can we get rid of her?"

"Well, it's not that simple, it's a person, it's…" Buffy showed her the yearbook. "It's this person. Now, do you have any idea why she'd be so…"

"Oh, God!" Cordelia exclaimed, pulling the yearbook closer. "Is she _really_ wearing Laura Ashley?"

The group sighed, seeing _why_ the girl would feel so homicidal.

"I've never seen this girl in my life." Cordelia finally decided, pushing the yearbook back to Buffy.

"You say that she tried to kill Ms. Miller. Can you give us more detail than that?" Giles asked, listening as Cordelia told them of how she'd gone to the classroom and found her teacher with a plastic bag tied over her head. Cordelia had managed to get it off in time, and then chalk had floated on its own and written a word on the board. "So we know have two messages from Marcie: Look and Listen."

"Messages we just don't get." Sam sighed.

Chloe frowned. "It sounds as if she's just trying to get someone to finally notice her. She's sick of not being heard or seen. And I really don't blame her for feeling that way, though her methods are more than questionable."

"From what she did to Cordelia's picture, I would say that she's wigged on the whole May Queen thing." Buffy spoke up. "Maybe she's gonna do something about it."

"Maybe we could stop the coronation tonight?" Sam asked. "Keep Cordelia away from the Bronze?"

"Nothing is keeping me from the Bronze tonight!" Cordelia exclaimed.

Dean growled and shook his head in annoyance. "Can we just revel in your _fabulous lack of priorities_?"

She pouted at him. "If I'm not crowned tonight then, then Marcie's won! And that would be bad! She's evil, okay? _Way_ eviler than _me_."

"Cordelia's got a point." Buffy announced.

"See? Even _she's_ with me on this." The brunette declared victoriously.

"Anyway, continuing the normal May Queen activities may be the best way to draw Marcie out." Buffy grinned. "We can use Cordelia as bait."

"Great!" Cordelia grinned and then frowned, turning to Buffy. "_Bait_?"

Everyone ignored her, although Dean looked a little uncomfortable with the plan.

"Chloe, Sam, you'll help me begin our research anew while Dean and Buffy keep an eye on Cordelia." Giles announced, agreeing with Buffy's plan. "Unless we find a way to cure Marcie's invisibility, then Buffy will be…"

"A sitting duck." Buffy finished.

Giles sent her a worried look.

They all got up to do their tasks.

Buffy turned to Cordelia. "C'mon."

The brunette hesitated. "Why can't Chloe come with us? I _like_ Chloe." She told Giles. "You keep Buffy."

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes. "Chloe and Sam are smarter than us, Dean and I handle the physical better."

Cordelia's eyes darkened as her she jerked an angered glare at her. "Oh I'm _sure_ you do."

Chloe wondered if she was the only one who realized just _how_ jealous Cordelia Chase was of Buffy.

"Cor, _down_." Dean warned.

Cordelia looked at him with a pout before folding her arms over her chest, doing as asked. "I have to try on my dress."

"What color is it?" Chloe asked, distracting Cordelia from her jealousy.

Cordelia's eyes twinkled and she smiled at the thought. "Crème. It's _divine!_" She shared a smile with Chloe before frowning. "It's creepy to think that this Marcie girl has been at this for months. Spying on us. Learning our most guarded secrets." She shivered. "So, are you all really saying that she's invisible because she's so unpopular?"

Sam nodded. "That about sums it up."

Cordelia exhaled. "Bummer for her. It's awful to feel that lonely."

Buffy snorted. "So you've read something that about the feeling?"

"Hey!" The fire returned to Cordelia's hazel eyes as she rounded on Buffy, fists clenched. "You think I'm never lonely because I'm so cute and popular? I can be surrounded by people and be completely alone!"

Dean was silent, face emotionless, as he watched her intently.

Cordelia didn't notice, angry gaze on a shocked Buffy. "It's not like any of them _really_ know me. I—I don't even know if they _like_ me half of the time! Sometimes---when I talk---everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say."

Chloe knew she wasn't the only one taken back at the hurt and slight loneliness in Cordelia's voice as she said this.

Buffy frowned, confused. "Well, if you feel so alone, then why do you work so hard at being popular?"

Cordelia looked away, shaking her head. "It beats being all by yourself."

Dean looked kicked. He took a step towards her.

Obviously embarrassed at her passionate show of emotion, Cordelia pushed passed him and stormed out of the library.

Dean looked after her before hurrying out as well, a contemplative Buffy by his side.

The three remaining sighed before going to work, pouring over the countless books, before suddenly she heard the eerie music playing once again.

"_Listen_."

They all listened for a moment and looked as one in the direction of the music.

"Come on." Giles led the way as they hurried out of the library, following the music. Chloe hugged herself, behind the two men, looking around her at the shadows of the school as they followed the sound of the flute to the basement.

She _hated_ basements.

Standing by the stairs of the basement they stopped and listened for the next direction to take. Sam motioned towards a pair of heavy metal doors, indicating that that was where the sound was coming from.

He walked towards the door and entered, Giles hurrying after him and Chloe following at a more cautious pace into the boiler room.

"Marcie?" Giles called. "We know what happened to you. Please, can we talk to you?"

Sam followed the sound of the flute over to a shelf where he found a tape recorder playing. His eyes widened. "It's a trap."

The sound of running caused Chloe to turn in time to see the door slamming shut on her. She hurried towards them and tried to open the doors, but they were locked from the outside.

Sam reached her side, pushing against the doors but they wouldn't budge.

"Let us out Marcie!" He ordered.

"_Shhh_." Giles raised his hand, looking around them.

Chloe's eyes widened as she heard the soft hissing in the air.

Following the sound, Giles found the main gas valve. It was open and hissing, gas pouring into the room. "It's gas." He whispered, checking the furnace. "She's snuffed out the pilot light! The gas in on full!" He looked around at the two teenagers by the doors. "I can't find the shutoff valve."

Sam noticed something broken on the floor and picked it up. "Found it."

Giles' face fell. "Dear god."

"We need to open these doors!" Chloe threw herself against them, not even getting them to _budge_.

She was beginning to taste the gas in the air. It was bitter.

Sam's gaze was searching the boiler room frantically before he spotted a bar and grabbed it, about to swing it at the door like a ram.

"No!" Giles stopped him in time. "One spark and you'll take the whole building with us!"

Sam put the bar down gently.

Chloe whipped out her cellular and tried to call but realized that she had no reception down there. "No signal."

The men shared worried looks.

Chloe began to feel a little dizzy, bringing her sleeve to her mouth to try and minimized her lung's intake of gas, the Watcher and Sam doing the same.

Giles turned to the gas valve and tried his best to turn it off with his bare hands. He had some success, minimizing somewhat the amount of gas funneling into the room, but they were still locked in and it would kill them in minutes if they didn't find a way to get out.

Chloe coughed, feeling the world twirling around her and she leaned heavily against the wall, pressing her sleeve as hard against her nose and mouth as she could while still breathing.

Giles took off his jacket and wrapped it around the pole Sam had found to prevent sparks.

Her vision blurred and danced as Chloe felt herself sliding down the wall to the ground.

"One!" Giles coughed out, voice weak. "Two! _Three_!"

Sam and Giles then rammed the door with the bar. It made a deep, loud boom, but other than that it didn't even make a dent in the door.

"Again!" Giles ordered.

Another loud boom seemed to reverberate around Chloe.

The door still wouldn't budge.

They tried for a third time but both were too weak by then, dropping the bar they collapsed to the floor.

Sam crawled over to where Chloe was barely staying awake.

Their using their force had caused them to inhale more gas than Chloe, and before Sam reached her he collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

The gas continued to hiss victoriously.

Giles crawled to the door and began to weakly slap against it, not giving up.

Just as Chloe's vision was beginning to darken, Chloe saw the door suddenly open and Giles fell through. He was dragged out by a shadowy blur, and then the blur hurried into the room, bending down in front of her, picking her up and throwing her over a strong shoulder before grabbing the back of Sam's shirt and dragging him behind.

Outside of the door Sam was dropped, and Chloe softly lowered to the ground, before the blur rushed into the room again.

The sound of hissing stopped.

Chloe gasped at the clean oxygen, her lungs begging for it, while Giles crawled over to Sam and shook him conscious.

Suddenly the blur was in front of her again, kneeling next to her, worried hands skimming her face. "Chloe? Chloe!"

Being pulled into strong arms, Chloe felt safe and secure. She breathed in easier, looking up a the shadowed face and forcing her vision to focus, a small, weak smile tilting her lips as she recognized the terrified face staring down into hers. "_Angel_."

The vampire cradled her in his arms, seeming unwilling to let her go. "I need to take you to the hospital…"

"No…" She shook her head, burying her face in his clothes, tired but happy. "Somehow I knew you'd come." He was trembling as he held her.

"What happened?" Sam groaned, sitting up, holding his hand to his head. "Not that I'm not happy you're here, but why exactly _did_ you come? How did you know where were here?"

"I didn't." Angel might have answered Sam, but his gaze was solely on Chloe. "I brought the Codex." He motioned with his chin to a book discarded on the ground. "I came through the basement, smelt the gas…smelt _Chloe_."

"T-thank you." Giles announced weakly as he stood on his shaky legs, helping Sam up as well before picking up the Codex. "We---we have to go help Buffy and Dean. Marcie---the invisible girl---trapped us in here so that it could be easier for her to get to Cordelia."

"I'm taking Chloe to the hospital." Angel announced.

"_No_." Chloe protested. "I'm _fine_. Sam and Giles inhaled more than I did and they're _standing_."

"I don't _care_ how much _they_ inhaled." Angel snapped.

Chloe finally looked up at him, glaring. "_Angel_, put me _down_."

His hold on her tightened defiantly.

"Put. Me. _Down_."

Eyes flickering with his anger, Angel put her down and then stormed away towards the sewers that obviously connected with the basement.

Chloe watched him go sadly before turning to the others. "Come on, we have to find Buffy, Dean and Cordelia."

In the end they _still_ didn't make it on time and had to hear the story from Buffy and Dean during Cordelia's coronation at the Bronze later that night.

Apparently Marcie had knocked out both Dean and Buffy by sneaking up on them and injecting some sort of drug into them (they didn't want to even _know_ where she'd gotten it from) and they'd awoken tied up in the Bronze. There Marcie had revealed that she intended on slashing up Cordelia's face beyond recognition as revenge.

Thankfully, Buffy had managed to get free and attack the invisible girl, and Dean had freed himself and Cordelia as well, before helping Buffy.

In the end the two had joined forces and managed to kick some invisible butt when two F.B.I. agents (who identified themselves as agents Doyle and Minetti) stormed into the place guns a-blazing.

Apparently they'd already known of the situation and had been scoping the school for days trying to find Marcie. In the end they'd taken her into custody where they'd assured Buffy and Dean that she would be 'rehabilitated'.

After the crowning, Cordelia found the small group and smiled, straightening the crown on her head and holding the bouquet of flowers close to her heart. "Hi."

"Hey." Chloe smiled, feeling completely recovered and strong again.

The others nodded.

Dean cleared his throat. "You, uh, you look pretty."

Cordelia gave him a tender smile. "_Thanks_." She then ducked her gaze and smiled at her shoes before looking up at them again. "I wanted to thank you all, for everything. You really helped me out---you saved my life, and you didn't have to. So, thank you."

With that she fixed her crown once more and left, going towards where a bruised Mitch was waiting on her.

Dean watched her go longingly.

Sam sighed and clapped his brother on his back.

"Let's go home." Buffy sighed, not in the mood to party. "It's been a long day."

"_Amen_." Giles nodded as they all turned and walked to where his car was parked.

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Sitting on the floor of her balcony, Chloe leaned back against the railing, hugging her knees to her chest as she gazed up at the stars shining above. She knew that it wasn't exactly safe to be doing this, but she had a stake next to her, and a bottle of holy water on the other side, so she wasn't exactly vulnerable.

There was the sound of a twig breaking beneath the balcony and then the swish of air, and Angel vaulted over the railing, landing firmly on his feet.

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise as she hurried to her feet. "Angel." She hadn't expected to see him. Not after the fight they'd had earlier.

"You could have died today." He growled.

"Yes, I could have." Chloe agreed slowly, wondering what he was getting at. "I could die _every_ day. We live on a _Hellmouth_; I work with the _Slayer_. It's not exactly the safest job out there."

"You could have died today." Angel repeated, his intensity growing as he stalked towards her.

Chloe backed up into the railing, eyes wide and on his face, not scared but _surprised_ by his intensity. "_Angel_?" Her voice was a whisper as his hand cupped her face, raising her face upwards.

"I'm a vampire." He told her, gaze dark.

"I _know_." She whispered, breathless.

"I tried to protect you." Angel whispered, lowering his face to hers, hesitating a breath away from touching, giving her a last minute to change her mind.

Chloe didn't answer, she just closed her eyes and pushed up from her toes, bringing their lips together as her arms went around his neck and whimpering in pleasure when his arms went around her waist and pulled her flush against him, kissing her in hungrily, desperately.

Digging her fingers into his hair, Chloe let out a gasp of air when Angel turned and backed her into the wall a little harshly, but she didn't care. She just chuckled breathlessly into the kiss and arched against him.

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**Review?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and Supernatural.**

Wanna thank Cici Linne, summergirlforever, DiscoLemonadeDiva, ChamberlinofMusic, vamp1987, Kit Merlot, Ev, bushlaboo, renaid, SriHellgirl25 and Shadow Girl for reviewing the previous chapter.

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In the park, Chloe stood with the video camera filming. It'd been an idea of Giles'. Since he couldn't always be with Buffy while she was patrolling, this way he could see how she was doing and see if he needed to help her in a certain part of the training.

Her lens zoomed in on the car parked in the darkness, recognizing it as Kevin's. Kevin was Cordelia's newest boyfriend, and the longest one she'd had so far. Dean had always been jealous and resentful of Cordelia's many paramours, but he was especially insecure when it came to Kevin.

Probably because unlike with her other boyfriends, when Cordelia smiled at Kevin it was tender, and her eyes twinkled happily.

Chloe shook her head, thinking of the two teens in that car, probably making out, neither realizing what exactly was happening a couple of a little ways from them right now.

Buffy came falling into the field of view in almost slow motion and hit the ground hard on her back, exhaling. She propped herself up as a vampire approached her and growled.

Rolling in a reverse somersault, Buffy came up standing, ready to fight. She pulled out a stake from under her jacket behind her back and held it pointing out from her hips so the vampire could see.

A bit of his earlier self-confidence failed at the sight of both it and Buffy's evil smile.

Buffy enjoyed her job **way** too much.

Infuriated by her lack of fear, the vampire launched himself at her.

The Slayer hit him with an out-to-in crescent kick, and then followed up with a high front snap kick, stunning him. She immediately plunged the stake home and he fell over backward, bursting into ashes when he hit the ground.

"Great job!" Chloe grinned, looking into the camera still.

Buffy turned to the camera and grinned, saluting. "Three in one night. Wow. Giles would be so proud."

"Are we calling it a night or are we going out searching for more vampires?" Chloe stopped the recording and smiled up at Buffy, shaking her head at how _normal_ it was for her to ask about hunting vampires.

Her life was so _weird_!

And yet she wouldn't want it any other way.

Buffy considered the option before grinning. "Onwards with the hunt!"

Joining in the Slayer's laughter, Chloe and Buffy looped arms around each others and continued on with the patrol, wondering how the boys were fairing with their father tonight.

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The three sat tensely at their table, eating the microwave pizza that didn't seem to have defrosted well and was kinda soggy. The brothers forced themselves to eat the disgusting thing while their father seemed to think it was manna of the gods, while observing them suspiciously as he chewed.

"I haven't been getting any calls from your teachers." John Winchester announced, gaze on Dean before turning to Sam. "And _you_ are never home anymore."

Both brothers winced as they used chewing as an excuse not to answer.

John's eyes narrowed further. "What are the two of you up to? Don't think that just because I'm on the road all the time due to my job that you can do whatever the hell you want."

"Yes sir." The brothers murmured.

"I don't want to get a call and find out that you're on drugs or in a gang or something." He threatened.

"No sir." The brothers sighed.

"You damned kids think you don't have anyone to answer to but yourselves." He was grumbling to himself. "No sense of responsibility."

Dean ducked his head, a muscle jumping in his cheek, jaw clenched.

Sam chewed dutifully, hand clenched, trembling angrily where it was resting on his knee.

"When I was _your_ age I had a _job_! I was _doing_ something for the community." John continued on in between miserable bites of his pizza. "Not just lazing around and having the time of my life as you two do."

Dean closed his eyes, clamping his mouth shut, that muscle jumping erratically in his cheek at the effort to remain silent.

"You kids are so fucking _ignorant_." John continued on his tirade. "You think you own the world, that you're on the top of the food chain and nothing can bring you down. I'll, all let you two know from now that there are horrors in this world that will leave you trembling in your big boy boots!"

Sam finally couldn't take it anymore, snorting in disgust as he shook his head. "Were you _always_ such a miserable, _resentful_ old man, dad?"

In a flash like lightening John Winchester had stood and his hand swiped out, fist swinging into Sam's cheek, knocking the boy backwards.

Dean was up in seconds, eyes darkened, pushing his father away violently. "Don't you touch him! Don't you _fucking_ touch him or I swear---!"

John sneered at them, shaking his head in disgust, before turning his back and storming to his room.

Dean waited until his father slammed the door shut before turning to Sam, who'd picked himself up. "You _know_ not to antagonize him, Sammy. _Why_ do you _always_ do it anyway?"

"Sorry, Dean." Sam whispered, hand to his throbbing jaw.

Dean sighed. "Come on then, you little _girl_, lets put some ice on that before you can't talk tomorrow."

"Thanks." Sam sighed as they headed towards the kitchen.

"Bitch." Dean whispered.

"Jerk." Sam rejoined.

The brothers shared a smile.

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In the library at school, Giles sat at the table researching the Codex Angel had brought him. While the Watcher in him still felt a little wary around the vampire, the man in him saw the way Angel was with Chloe. The fact that both times he'd been so terrified at the thought of her getting killed, his humanity had shown up, and Giles didn't doubt that the soul was there, or that Angel would protect Chloe against anything.

And he was grateful for that, for not only did Chloe have a powerful protector, but they had an ally. A powerful ally who could get them things like the Permamum Codex---which everyone had thought to have been lost since the 15th century.

Getting up he went to his office to make some tea. It was quick and easy, and he soon found himself sitting at his desk with his cup of tea and reading from the Codex.

"_Ho korias phanaytie toutay…tay nuktee. _'The Master shall rise…' Yes, yes, this is it! 'The Master shall rise, and the Slayer…'" He looked up in disbelief and horror, hoping to _god_ that he'd just mistranslated that. "My _God_."

Considering what he just read, Giles reached blindly for his tea. The cup began to jiggle, and he looked at it curiously. A few seconds later the whole building began to shake, and Giles stood rapidly as he realized he was experiencing his first earthquake.

Everything around him shook violently, and his teacup vibrated off of the desk, smashing to pieces on the floor.

Hurrying out of his office, Giles watched as several bookshelves fell over as the walls and the floor cracked, sustaining severe damage. And then, just as quickly and unexpected as it'd begun, it stopped, leaving Giles in the middle of a nearly destroyed library.

And yet Giles wasn't worried about the books or the walls or even the floor.

He knew what strong earthquakes like this tended to herald, and as he thought back to what he'd just read his heart filled with dread. The Watcher stumbled back into his office, sitting down on his chair, thankful for the electricity still being on.

Grabbing the Codex with trembling hands, he took in a deep breath before rereading.

He stayed there all night studying, and only when the next morning as he headed out of his office towards the cage that had a volume referenced in the Codex, and Buffy sauntered, did Giles realize what time it was.

"Morning!" Buffy announced in her bright, sunny, and eternally cheerful way before stopping and looking at all the damage.

Giles winced as he turned and looked at her.

"Wow." Buffy blinked, gaze on the library around them. "The damage looks fairly structural. Are we safe in here?"

Giles just looked at her.

Buffy, noticing the lack of response, trained her eyes on him and then suddenly blushed. "What? Do I have something on my face?" She patted her face self-consciously.

"No!" Giles shook his head, tearing his gaze away, telling himself not to worry her needlessly. He—he would find a way around this---she would never have to know. "Uh, and, and, yes, we're, we're safe." He indicated the stacks, refusing to look at her least he give himself away any further. "Uh, but probably best not to go up there."

"How're you doing, Giles?" Buffy asked, concerned. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Um…I've been working." He still couldn't look her in the face.

"Me too." Buffy came closer. "Chloe and I went out hunting last night, and it's getting hairy out there. I killed five vampires last night, and that's like a personal record for just one night. It's never happened before. And the last three were practically on school grounds."

"Their numbers are increasing." Giles whispered in horror…the signs all beginning to point in the direction he didn't even want to consider.

"And they're getting cockier." Buffy agreed. "Look, I'm not loving it. Last night was a pretty close call."

_This is not good_. He turned his back on her. "I'm relieved you are both okay. I—uh—I-I need to verify, um…I just can't really talk right now."

A soft hand touched his arm. "Giles? Are you okay?"

He hung his head. "Yes, I—just a little tired."

"Okay." The Slayer sighed, letting go. "Good. I guess I can't put it off any longer… I have to meet my terrible fate."

At those words Giles turned around, eyes wide in horror. "_What_?!"

"Biology." Buffy mourned before grinning at him and sauntering out of the library as the bell rung.

Giles watched her go.

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"I can't believe he _hit_ you!" Chloe glared, grabbing the front of Sam's shirt and pulling him downwards towards her so she could reach the purple bruise on his swollen jaw.

Sam looked away from her, not as embarrassed as he should be with her mothering him so openly when they should be getting to their next class. "I should have kept my mouth shut. I know what his temper's like."

"I hope he nearly had a heart attack during that earthquake last night." Buffy growled out, arms folded angrily over her chest, just as protective of her friends as Chloe, though not as _showy_ and motherly as the other blonde.

"That _was_ an intense one, huh?" Dean asked, hands in his jacket pockets. "What do you think? 5.1?"

"A little higher." Sam guessed. "But around there."

"Where were you guys during this?" Dean asked the girls.

"Hunting." Buffy grinned before Chloe finally let go of Sam, deeming him okay, and they continued going to their next class.

"Did you dust any?" Dean asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Five." Buffy announced proudly.

"Wow, that's more than usual." Sam frowned. "Should we be worried?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Buffy frowned, sending a look to a now pale Chloe. "Last night, right before the earthquake hit, Chloe started feeling sick, and then after it, she just fell to her knees and puked her guts out."

"_Thank_ you Buffy, for giving everyone that stunning visual of my finer moments." Chloe complained.

"What I'm saying, Chloe, is that you're connected to the Hellmouth." The Slayer reached over and placed her hand on her shoulder. "And you've been having nightmares every single night for this last week, nightmares you can't remember." She turned to Sam and Dean. "I slept over her house the other night and had to wake her up because she was screaming her lungs out while she slept. Mr. S rushed in and helped me. He said this has been happening for the last 14 days but it intensified this week."

"Two weeks." Sam glared at Chloe. "Why haven't you told us anything?"

"They're _nightmares_." Chloe pressed. "Living here is bound to give me them. And anyway, I already told Jenny."

"What did she have to say about them?" Buffy asked, making a face, still frustrated whenever it came to the computer science teacher.

Chloe bit her bottom lip. "She wants me to undergo hypnosis to see if I can remember what I'm dreaming."

"Why haven't you done it?" Dean pressed.

"Look, that's not important right now." Chloe shook her head. She turned to Buffy. "Did you see Giles? Is he okay?"

Buffy nodded, frowning, worried. "I—I went to see him this morning, and he was totally hiding something from me, and whatever it is, its _wigging him out_." She turned to Chloe. "Why don't you talk to him? You're everyone's confidant. And you're the one who usually helps him anyway. Maybe he'll talk to you."

Chloe nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." Buffy smiled as they reached their next class and entered.

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In the library, Giles sat by his desk, on the phone, listening to it ring impatiently. He'd dialed Angel's number a couple of times already and it'd only rung out, but he didn't give up, ringing over and over again, guessing that the vampire was sleeping. After the gas incident in the boiler room Angel had given Chloe and him his number to call him in case they needed help, and Giles was never more thankful for a way to get into contact with him than now.

In mid-ring the phone was answered. "Whoever this is, I'm a little busy right now." Angel's voice was tense.

Giles cleared his throat. "Hello, uh, this is Rupert Giles." He failed to notice Jenny Calendar walking up to his office door, leaning in the doorway. "I'm sorry to bother you, but it's urgent. Life or death. I—I need to see you as soon as you can come over."

"Is everything okay?" Angel's voice was now worried. "Is Chloe--?"

"No, Chloe's fine, but, but it's urgent that you come over as soon as you can."

"Okay then, as soon as I deal with this problem I'll be over there." Angel agreed. "Are you _sure_ she's okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm sure. Just _please_ come."

"Okay. I'll be there." Angel hung up.

Giles hung up and sighed, taking off his glasses and pressing his hands to his face.

"You know, that outfit looks just like the one you wore yesterday. Only wrinklier." Jenny Calendar's voice caused him to jump out of the seat and twirl on his heel to finally see her frowning at him. "Were you here all night?"

Giles cleared his throat and put back on his glasses shakily. "M-Miss Calendar, I don't have time to _socialize_---."

"Me neither, this is a business call." The pretty woman declared. "I don't know if she's told you this, but Chloe's been having some intense nightmares for the last two weeks, even waking up with bruises and cuts she didn't go to sleep with."

Giles frowned, shocked. "She—she never told me."

"Not only that." Ms. Calendar frowned darker. "But she's been very unstable in our lessons. She gets nauseas. I have her and Sam studying in separate corners so I don't think he's noticed, but she's vomiting a lot lately, and I don't think it's that she has a bun in the oven. I think the mystical energy of the Hellmouth is in an upheaval and she's so connected with it that it's making her sick."

Giles ran his hand over his hair.

Of all the signs, this could very well be the cementing one.

"Something's going on, Rupert." Ms. Calendar continued on. "And I'm guess you already know what it is."

The Watcher sent her a suspicious glare. "What do you know?"

"Well, I have been surfing the 'Net, looking for unexplained incidents. You know, people are always sending stuff my way. They know the occult's my turf." She put down the folders she'd brought with her on his desk and picked out a couple at random. "Now, here is the latest. A cat last week gave birth to a litter of snakes." She passed him the folder. "A family was swimming in Whisper Lake when the lake suddenly began to boil." She passed that one over as well. "And at Mercy Hospital last night, a boy was born with his eyes facing inward."

Giles looked over the files in the folders, his heart sinking with each and every one.

"I'm not stupid, Rupert." Ms. Calendar sat down on his desk. "This is _apocalypse_ stuff. Throw in last night's earthquake and I'd say we've got a problem." She folded her arms over her chest. "I would say that the end is pretty seriously _nigh_."

"I don't know if I can trust you." Giles admitted, a little disturbed that Chloe had told _this woman_ about her dreams, and that Ms. Calendar had noticed Chloe's sickness when none of _them_, her closest _friends_, had.

Chloe was always helping them, always looking after them. What if she'd needed them and they had been too busy to even notice?

"I have Chloe and Sam's trust." Jenny announced with a sigh. "That's got to count for something." She stood up. "Look, I'm scared, okay? Plus, I've got this crazy monk emailing me from Cortona about some Anointed One?"

Giles frowned, eyes narrowing. "The Anointed One? He's dead!"

Her eyes widened. "Someone's dead?"

_'And the Slayer will know him not, and he will lead her to hell'…_

Giles' eyes widened. What if they _hadn't_ killed the Anointed One? What if Andrew Borca had been a _decoy_ to keep them away from the _real_ Anointed? "Who is this monk?"

Jenny shrugged. "A brother Luca something? Keeps sending out global mailings about a prophecy."

"I need you to talk to him, find out everything he knows." Giles ordered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Look, Rupert, you haven't told me jack, so what's with the order?"

"Just do it!" He took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I—I'll explain later."

She must have realized how much this was affecting him because she just pouted and nodded. "You better." And with that she stormed out of his office.

Giles covered his face with his hands and collapsed onto his seat.

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Chloe hugged herself as she walked down the halls towards Home Ec, one of the only classes she didn't have with _any_ of her friends. It was always kinda lonely because of that, but she liked the class so she put up with it.

She noticed Cordelia laughing happily ahead of her with Kevin.

"I'll get everything tonight after practice. The guys will help me." Kevin promised, squeezing Cordelia's hand, smiling besotted at her.

"Well, it's all in the A-V room." Cordelia grinned. "The sound system, and the decorations…Oh! And Aura needs help moving the coolers."

Kevin grinned and tapped his finger lightly against her nose. "Don't sweat it."

"Well, bring everything to the Bronze, and I'll meet you there in the morning!"

"Done." Kevin nodded.

Cordelia giggled, smiling happily at him, and maybe a bit besotted herself. "You're so sweet! Why're you so sweet?"

"I dunno." Kevin grinned, rubbing his nose against hers. "'Cause I'm usually mean as a _snake_."

Cordelia smiled, rubbing back, before spotting Chloe, smiling brightly. "Chloe!" She turned to Kevin. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." He smiled and they squeezed hands before letting go and he left.

Cordelia smiled, watching him go, before turning to Chloe and coming towards her. "Hey, how have you been doing?" She got into step with Chloe, also heading towards Home Ec.

"Fine thanks, and you?" Chloe asked.

Cordelia's and her relationship was an odd one. At first they'd clashed, then after Chloe had saved her from becoming vampire meat Cordelia had become extremely civil with her, even sometimes _nice_, and after the whole Marcie thing whenever Chloe was without Buffy Cordelia would come over and spend time with her, grinning and acting like…like a _friend_.

"Busy!" Cordelia exclaimed. "You know how I'm organizing the Spring Fling? Well, the Bronze won't let us use their sound system, and I need someone who knows how to hook one up."

"I could help." Chloe offered. "I'm not a pro or anything, but I know my way around that stuff after hanging around with Sam so much."

Cordelia's eyes widened and she grinned. "_Really_? Thank you so much! You've just saved my life! Could you show up tomorrow morning to help? I'd be really grateful."

"Sure." Chloe nodded.

"_Great_!" Cordelia smiled, hugging her books to her chest. "So, are you coming?"

"To the Spring Fling?" Chloe was surprised. "Dances really aren't my thing."

"Oh _come on_, you _have_ to come! Especially if you're helping me with the sound system!" Cordelia announced. "I'm organizing it so you _know_ that it'll rock."

Chloe snorted, always amused by Cordelia's high self-confidence. "I don't have a date."

"Aren't you and Sam a thing?" Cordelia made up her nose in confusion.

"No, just really good friends." Chloe shook her head. "Buffy, Dean, Sam and I? All friends. There's nothing romantic between _any_ of us. At _all_."

"Really." Cordelia cleared her throat, looking ahead of her. "Not even Dean and Buffy? They, uh, they fight a lot."

"So?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"Dean and _I_ fight a lot, or, well, we _used_ to." Cordelia hugged her books closer.

"Oh." Chloe could see now another reason why Cordelia was so insecure when it came to Buffy. "No, believe me. Those two only fight because they're too much alike. There is _no_ attraction there. And anyway, Buffy's in love with someone else."

"Oh." Cordelia tried to fight the small smile but it was still visible. "Okay… Not that I _care_ or anything."

"Of _course_ you don't." Chloe backed up, trying not to laugh.

Maybe Dean still had a chance _after all._

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Chloe and Buffy had returned from patrolling the school campus. Since three vampires had been on the school grounds last night they'd decided to make this their hunting grounds tonight, while Sam and Dean took the cemetery. The boys were just all too happy to stay out of the house while their father was home.

Another reason Buffy and Chloe wanted to make the school their hunting ground was so they could return and have a talk with Giles, who they _knew_ would be in the library until an ungodly hour of the morning---if he left at all.

They went to the bathroom after Buffy put away her stake in her locker, and Buffy used the bathroom while Chloe waited for her, both having washed the dirt and grim from a tussle with a couple of vampires off of their hands and arms.

Chloe had even managed to stake her first vampire tonight without any help. It'd been a giddy, powerful experience, she'd felt as if she were high, but as she leaned against the wall listening to Buffy talk while in one of the toilet stalls, that giddiness turned into nausea as she felt the energies shifting around and beneath her.

Hand going to one of the sinks to steady herself, Chloe's other hand went to her stomach as the lurching of the energies entered her, messing with her insides and causing a deep buzzing in her ears.

Beneath that buzzing was the sound of evil, demonic laughter, and then a woman screaming in pain…a woman that sounded so much like_…_

"_Chloe_!" Buffy shook her, causing Chloe's gaze to turn to her, wondering when she'd appeared. "What's wrong?"

Chloe pushed Buffy away and hurried to the toilet, barely managing to lift the lid, and bend over before she heaved violently. She could feel Buffy behind her, rubbing her back soothingly and telling her she was going to be okay, that it would pass.

Finally, when there was nothing left to vomit, Chloe flushed the toilet and stumbled to the sink, turning on the water and washing her hands and mouth out, hating the acidic taste in her mouth. But at least the energies were calming down.

Buffy passed her a piece of paper toweling. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Chloe swiped it over her mouth, turning to turn off the faucet, hand freezing at what she saw.

Blood poured down from the faucet.

Her eyes widened, unable to delude herself into being calm anymore. "We have to find Giles. Something _horrible_ is going to happen."

They hurried to the library and stopped when they heard Giles' voice talking. They followed the sound through the stacks to peer curiously from their hidden position inside, wondering who could still be here so late with Giles.

"It's clear. It's what gonna happen." Giles sounded both hysteric and defeated. "It's happening _now_!"

Angel moved into the light to read the Codex, coming into their view.

Buffy and Chloe exchanged surprised, confused looks.

"It can't be." Angel shook his head. "You've gotta be wrong."

"I've checked it against all my other volumes." Giles seemed about to tear his hair out in frustration. "It's very real."

"Well, there's gotta be some way around it." Angel declared, closing the Codex with a snap. "This can't be allowed to happen."

"_Listen!_" Giles nearly exploded. "Some prophecies are, are a bit dodgy. They're, they're mutable. Buffy herself has, has thwarted them time and time again, but this is the _Codex_! There is _nothing_ in it that does not come to pass!"

"Then you're reading it wrong." Angel insisted.

"I wish to God I were." Giles whispered, slumping down on his seat, defeated. "But it's very plain… Tomorrow night Buffy will face the Master, and she will _die_."

Chloe's eyes widened in horror as she turned to her friend.

The Slayer stood in shock, gaze on Giles, unable to believe what she'd just heard. Then, shaking her head, she began to laugh, the sound broken and nearly hysteric.

The men stopped talking. They looked out of the office and saw the two horrified girls, before exchanging a look and walking out towards them.

Buffy slowly started to walk away from the stacks towards the library table before turning and facing them. "So that's it, huh?" She asked, trying hard to be brave. "I remember the drill. One Slayer dies, next one's called… Wonder who she is." She looked up at Giles, eyes watering. "Will you train her? Or will they send someone else?"

Giles looked in torment. "_Buffy_, I…"

"They say how he's gonna kill me?" Buffy interrupted, voice breaking with emotion. "Do you think it'll hurt?" Tears began to flow freely from her eyes.

Chloe moved to hug her, but Buffy put her hands up and quickly stepped away.

"Don't!" She wiped at her tears. "That's what you've been sensing, that's what you've been having nightmares about, isn't it?" She asked the blonde. "My _death_."

"I don't know." Chloe whispered, truthfully, trying to be strong for her friend. "I don't remember my nightmares."

Buffy nodded slowly, believing her, before looking up at Giles. "Were you even going to tell me?"

"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to." Giles whispered. "That there was…some way about it. I…"

"I've got a way around it." Buffy declared vehemently. "I _quit_!"

Angel shook his head. "It's not that simple."

"I'm making it that simple!" Buffy snapped at him. "I quit! I resign---I-I fire myself! You all can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over!"

Giles lowered his head. "I'm not sure that anyone else _can_. All the…the signs indicate…"

"The _signs_?" Buffy snapped, grabbing a book from off of the table and throwing it at Giles, barely missing him. "READ ME THE SIGNS!" She threw another one. "TELL ME MY FORTUNE!" She glared angrily at him. "You're so useful sitting here with all your books! You're _really_ a LOT of help!"

"_Buffy_!" Chloe gasped.

Angel put his hand down on her shoulder, pulling her back and out of the conversation.

"No," Giles shook his head sadly. "I don't suppose I am."

"Buffy, getting mad at Giles isn't going to change the prophecy he has no fault for!" Chloe trudged right back into the conversation despite Angel's best efforts to keep her out of the eye of the angry Slayer. "We have to band together more than ever and figure out a way to get you out of this."

"I already did." Buffy spat. "I _quit_, remember? _Pay attention_!"

Chloe was shocked at the fury directed towards her.

Angel pulled her back against him with a warning growl to just _stay out_ of it already.

"Buffy," Giles spoke, drawing back her attention. "If the Master rises…"

"I don't _care_!" She shrieked as she yanked the cross from her neck, going horribly still before looking up brokenly at her Watcher. "I don't care. _Giles_, I'm _sixteen_. I don't _wanna_ die."

Giles looked at her in agonized silence, at a loss of what to do, what to say.

Buffy looked away from him and let the cross fall from her fingers to the ground. "Everyone just, just _leave me alone." _Turning she walked out of the library without looking back.

"Buffy!" Chloe called after her.

"Leave her." Giles whispered, taking off his glasses and rubbing his fingers over his eyes. "She needs some time to herself, to think."

Chloe wanted to rush after her friend, but she trusted Giles' judgment and stayed.

Giles sighed, putting on his glasses. "Angel, could you please take Chloe home? I'm going to stay here and---and---and---."

Angel nodded. "Of course." He turned to Chloe. "Let's go."

Chloe nodded, turning with him to leave, before turning around once more and throwing herself into Giles' surprised arms, hugging him tightly. "We'll find a way."

There was a moment's hesitation and then he hugged her tightly as well. "We _have_ to."

Pulling away, smiling tremulously up into his face, Chloe slowly returned to Angel and put her hand in his, letting him lead her away.

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Chloe hadn't slept the whole night.

She hadn't even called Dean or Sam, she couldn't bring herself to tell them that Buffy was destined to _die_ that night.

She'd tried calling Buffy time and time again but Buffy didn't answer her cellular, and Mrs. Summers had stammered an apology when she'd called the home phone, saying that Buffy didn't want to see anyone and didn't want anyone to talk either.

Sighing, Chloe had decided that since she couldn't really do anything, she headed to the Bronze to help Cordelia as she'd promised. She knew that if Giles needed anything, he'd call her. But for now he needed to be alone as well. This was killing him deep down inside.

Chloe had talked with Cordelia outside the Bronze for about an hour until they couldn't wait any longer. Obviously Kevin and his friends weren't coming, so Cordelia and Chloe headed to the school to see what in the world was going on.

"He promised he's bring everything to the Bronze last night so we'd have everything there and all we'd have to do was set it up." Cordelia announced. "He promised! We'll never get everything ready in time."

"He probably forgot." Considering the prophecy about tonight, Chloe didn't consider this much of anything. "It's not _that_ a big a deal."

Cordelia grinned. "Uh, you don't understand. I'm not mad. He _totally_ flaked on me. On _me_. And I don't even _care_." Her grin turned goofy. "God help me, I think it's _cute!_"

Chloe smiled at Cordelia as they reached the Audio-Visual room. They saw Kevin and his friends back-too through the windows, sitting on the sofa, facing towards the tv.

"There they are!" Cordelia grinned broadly. "They're watching cartoons. That's so _cu_…That's not cute." She tried to convince herself badly. "That's annoying. I'm _annoyed_."

"Right. _Furious_." Chloe grinned, finding this change in Cordelia so amusing.

"Men." The brunette snorted. "I don't know why we put up with them."

"Hear Hear." Chloe agreed. _That's why I switched to a vamp!_

Not that her and Angel had defined exactly what sort of thing they had going on between them and if it was a 'relationship' per se.

"Obviously, Kevin has underestimated the power of my icy stare." Cordelia announced with a grin as she opened the door. The body of one of Kevin's friends fell out into the hall, lifeless, a vampire bite on his neck.

Cordelia screamed. "Oh, my God!" Without a second thought she rushed into the room, looking for Kevin, and finding him on the sofa, dead, vampire bites on his arms and neck. "_Kevin_!"

Chloe entered, in a trance, realizing that the room had been trashed, blood was everywhere, as were signs of struggles, and bodies of Kevin's friends and others littered the floor.

"_No_!" Cordelia knelt on the ground by Kevin's body.

There was a bloody handprint on the TV screen. Obviously the boys had been attacked and killed when they'd come here to get the things for Cordelia the night before.

Why had this seemed like such an innocent scene to anyone passing by the AV room and glancing in, when in truth it was the scene of such a horrific massacre?

"_KEVIN_!" Cordelia cried, hugging his lifeless body to her.

_So,_ Chloe looked around her, in shock. _This is what life is like without a Slayer._

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"What do you mean you're in the hospital right now?" Dean asked, looking up at Sam as he spoke on his cellular to Chloe, the signal horrible and yet he was able to make out most of what she was saying.

"_Vampires attacked Kevin and his friends last night…massacre…we found the bodies…Cordelia being treated for shock."_

"Is she---other than that---is she okay?" His eyes widening. "Was she hurt?"

"_She's fine…go to library…Buffy…prophecy…die tonight…Apocalypse_."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "_What_?"

But the connection broke.

The phone lines in Sunnydale had all gone dead.

"What happened?" Sam was tense, eyes on his brother.

Dean turned to him. "Come on, we have to get to the library. I---I think the world might be ending tonight."

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Looking at her cellular, Chloe noticed that there was no signal, and from the comments of the people crowded in the Emergency Room, hers wasn't the only one that this had happened to. All communication lines had gone dead in Sunnydale.

_That way we can't call for help_. She wanted to hug herself, but she sat next to a crying Cordelia, rubbing her back, trying to soothe her while knowing that nothing she said could help ease the girl's pain.

"_He didn't deserve for that to happen to him!_" Cordelia cried into her palms. "_He didn't! He was---he was---!_"

Feeling a shadow fall over them, Chloe looked up, expecting the doctor, eyes widening in horror as she saw six large and burly vampires, game face on.

"Miss Sullivan," the smallest (though in no sense _small_) one announced, shocking her that he knew her name. "The Master requests your presence tonight."

Cordelia looked up at the voices, and Chloe clamping down her hand over the other's girl's mouth was the only thing that kept her from screaming.

Chloe realized that if these vampires hadn't attacked anyone in the hospital, it was because it wasn't in their plans---for right now at least. They were here for _her_, and while she couldn't understand _why_, she _did_ know that if she played her cards right, no one in the hospital had to get eaten.

Cordelia turned to look at Chloe, eyes wide and questioning, obviously not understanding why she was covering her mouth.

"Don't scream." Chloe ordered, only letting go of Cordelia when the brunette nodded shakily. The blonde then turned her attention on the vampires. "No one here gets hurt. I'll come peacefully."

Their faces reverted to their human disguise as they nodded and Chloe stood up, gulping and taking in a deep breath as she went to stand by them.

"Chloe!" Cordelia stood, horrified. "What are you _doing_?"

Chloe didn't stop, she just followed them out, heart racing, terror slowly filling her as she realized something.

The woman she'd heard screaming had been _her._

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In the library, Giles grabbed weapons out of the cage and prepared them. But he wasn't alone.

Ms. Calendar leaned against the table, trying to absorb everything he'd just told her. "Okay, so this Master guy tried to open the Hellmouth. But he got stuck in it, and now all the signs are reading that he's gonna get out, which opens the Hellmouth, which brings the demons, which ends the world."

"Yes, that about sums it up, yes." Giles nodded.

"I knew from the very beginning that something was seriously off with this town but I never even realized the HALF of it!" She shook her head, unable to believe what was going on. "The part that gets me, though, is where Buffy is the Vampire Slayer." She chuckled wryly, still shaking her head. "I mean, I'd noticed she was usually around to save the day---but _Vampire Slayer? _She's so…so…_tiny_."

"Buffy has more potential and raw talent than I have ever seen in a Slayer or even _read_ of." Giles announced a little defensively before sighing, calming down once more, knowing that Jenny hadn't meant to insult his Slayer. "You know how to get in touch with this, uh, brother Luca chap?"

The computer science teacher shook her head. "As far as I can tell, no one can. He's disappeared. He _did_ send out one last global though. A short one."

"What did it say?" Giles asked. He still didn't know whether he trusted Jenny Calendar, and he knew he didn't really like her _or_ her computers, but right now this was the only lead he had.

And he _had_ to find a way to save Buffy.

He _wouldn't_ let her die.

He _couldn't._

"Isaiah 11:16." Jenny replied. "Which I dutifully looked up."

Giles didn't need her to tell him what it said. He knew that verse, and many others, by heart. "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, the lion and the fatling together, and the little child to lead them."

Ms. Calendar frowned. "That's kinda warm and fuzzy for a message of doom."

"Well, that depends on where he's leading them to." Giles fixed his glasses. "Aurelius wrote of the Anointed One, 'The Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell'."

Ms. Calendar blinked. "So Luca thinks the Anointed is a _kid_."

"If the vampire that Buffy killed was in fact _not_ the Anointed, then it may very well be."

Jenny straightened immediately. "Well, then we need to warn her."

"I don't intend involving her at all." Giles declared, going back to looking over the weapons.

Ms. Calendar watched him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Buffy's not gonna face the Master." He turned to the woman, daring her to defy him. "_I_ am."

"No, you're not." A voice said to their right.

Giles' heart raced as he turned to see Buffy at the doors of the library. "What are you doing here? I—I thought---."

"Chloe left me another text message before the lines went dead, I—I'd read all of her previous ones but this one---this one I couldn't delete after reading." Buffy took in a deep breath, walking towards Giles.

"What did she say that changed your mind?" Jenny asked, curiously.

Buffy finally looked at her, face resigned. "She sent me a picture of a world without a Slayer." Eyes determined, she turned to Giles. "So I'm looking for a kid, huh? And he'll lead me to the Master?"

Giles' eyes narrowed and he drew in a deep breath. "Buffy, I'm not gonna send you out there to die!" He tried calming down but found he couldn't. "You were right. I---I've waded around in these old books for so long, I've forgotten what the real world is like. I-it's time I found out."

She smiled tenderly at him. "You're still not going up against the Master."

"I've made up my mind." He told her.

"So have I." She told _him_.

"I made up mine first!" Giles felt hysteria at the thought of Buffy going to her death. He—he couldn't allow that to happen! He _couldn't_! "I'm older and wiser than you, and just…just do what you're told for once! Alright?"

"That's not how its goes." Buffy closed the distance between them, tilting her neck back slightly to look up into his face. "_I'm_ the Slayer."

How could she be so blasé about this?

This was her _life_ they were talking about!

"I don't _care_ what the books say!" Giles was furious at how she'd apparently resigned herself to death. "I defy prophecy, and I am going! There's _nothing_ you can say that will change my mind!"

"I know." Buffy whispered before pushing up on her tiptoes, cupping his face, and bringing their lips together in a kiss that shocked Giles stiff.

The Slayer nipped on his bottom lip before letting go and turning to leave.

He felt a moment's relief that she'd for _once_ listened to him, when Buffy swung around and threw a hard punch to his face…and then everything went black.

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Chloe shivered as she stood before the Master. She'd been in his presence in dreams before, she knew this, but he was obviously even more terrifying in real life. Unlike in her visions, here, _now_, he could easily kill her and Chloe didn't delude herself into thinking that her training would manage even a satisfactory resistance against him.

"Miss _Sullivan_," the deformed creature announced congenially, clasping his hands before him. "How _lovely_ to meet you. As you know, I don't get many visitors down here, but I _do_ plan on socializing more when I open Hell and get out of here to rule the world above."

The blonde gulped, silent, not knowing what game the Master was playing, but unwilling to play along.

"You know, I could _feel_ power above for so long and I couldn't figure out _who_ it was or why it seemed so _familiar_." He announced conversationally, walking slowly around her, circling her like the predator that he was. "And then Darla discovered Angelus was here, and after following him around secretly, she ventured upon his little obsession with _you_."

Chloe winced at the remembrance of the blonde who'd sunk her fangs into her neck with the intentions of siring her.

"I was initially against her plan of siring you, just killing you would have sufficed in my opinion…but then when she came back from having drank your blood I knew---I _knew_." The Master grinned, his fangs bloody and terrifying. "The _power_ that filled her from having drank from you, it was _intoxicating_. I drank some from her, and even though it was diluted in its corrupted, secondhand vessel it was unlike anything I'd ever had before. Except, of course, your _mother_."

Chloe's eyes widened in horror. "_What_?"

"What do you know about your mother, Miss Sullivan?" The Master asked.

"I—she—she left us when I was younger." Chloe stammered, finally being drawn into whatever it was that the Master was trying to do. "How---how do you know my mother?"

"Ah, so you didn't know that your coming here was in fact due to the fact that your mother's family comes from Sunnydale." The Master grinned, amused. "Before they left, your mother was a very _naughty_ girl." He tsked, shaking his head. "Dabbled in the occult, became a _fang whore_." He sneered at her. "Like mother like daughter, apparently."

Chloe couldn't even react to that insult, too shocked.

"Why, one of the reasons her family had to move was to get her away from all the things she'd gotten herself into." The Master continued on.

Chloe's whole body was shaking.

No---it _couldn't_ be.

"She was an extremely powerful natural-born witch, she could do things no other witch could do, things that seemed impossible, unheard of, and the darkness of the Hellmouth called to her, seduced her, _used_ her. She was greedy for power and domination, and talented and powerful enough to know that with practice and the right _connections_ she could achieve it." The Master continued to circle her. "She formed an alliance with me and cast a series of spells to be the energies' Vessel, the Hellmouth in human form if you may. The Hellmouth is eternal, and she had always envied that of vampires."

Chloe shook her head, closing her eyes, unable to believe that the woman she remembered could be the same one the vampire spoke of.

"What she hadn't realized was, of course, that when she _finally_ did that final, binding spell…she was already _pregnant_." The Master chuckled. "So instead of the powers entering her, instead of choosing _her, _they chose and entered the _Vessel within her_…they chose to bond with _you._"

Chloe's eyes flew open in horror. "_No_…"

"Do you no _understand_ the power you've been radiating since Darla's attack?" The Master sneered. "It's only because they know you are _mine_ that other vampires haven't attacked you. They know your blood is mine and mine alone, mine to drink and mine to strengthen me. Mine to release me from this hell."

"_No_!" Chloe took a step backwards.

"Why do you think your mother took you to Smallville that day of the meteor shower?" He sneered. "She'd done that spell to help me escape, but then she'd discovered that she was pregnant and her family took her away! She then met Gabriel Sullivan, married him, and raised you. But she knew, she _knew_ what you were. She could sense it. Couldn't _stand _living with the reminder of how she just _wasn't worthy enough to be chosen._"

Chloe shivered, tears filling her eyes as she continued to back away, shaking her head.

"She knew about the meteor shower that was going to take place in Kansas, and she didn't go there by accident, Miss Sullivan, she wasn't there by chance." He sneered, enjoying her pain, her denial. "She was there to _kill_ you. To kill you _both._"

"_NO!_" Chloe backed into the wall of the cave. _How did he know that we were there in the first shower? I've never even told Clark! _"My mother would have never---!"

"But it didn't kill you----and then she started feeling the affects the meteors had had on _herself_. She felt powerful again, felt she could kill me on her own. I didn't understand it at the time, but now that you are here, I know _why_ she came to my Lair all those years ago trying to kill me." He sneered. "She didn't want me to know about you. About the Hellmouth's bond with you, its merge with you. If I was freed I'd kill her for going against her word, and so she decided to kill me first and have dominion over the world _herself_."

Chloe felt tears prickling at her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. "My mom came here?"

He nodded. "Her bones are here _somewhere_."

_No!_ Chloe shook her head, closing her eyes tightly. _NO!_

"And now, Miss Sullivan." The Master's breath was putrid and on her face.

Chloe opened her eyes and tried to scream as she realized he was right there in front of her, arms on the wall on either side of her face—but no sound came out. She couldn't even move, it was as if he'd somehow paralyzed her without her knowing.

"Now it's time," The Master leaned forwards tauntingly. "To free your _daddy_."

With that he sunk his fangs into her neck, and she could finally scream.

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Outside the school, Buffy walked a short distance, looking all around, holding the crossbow and arrows she'd taken from Giles' weapon pile before leaving Ms. Calendar to take care of the knocked out Watcher. Buffy felt horrible for having done that to Giles, but her heart was also bursting with happiness at the realization that Giles would have gone in her stead.

He would have given his life for hers.

And she'd finally kissed him.

If she died tonight, at least she could take that experience with her to the grave.

Not that she _planned_ on dying.

Hearing a twig snap she looked up and saw a little boy before her.

"Help me." The boy asked her in an innocent voice.

Buffy lowered the crossbow and walked over to him. "It's okay." She stopped before him. "I know who you are."

Collin smirked, his face immediately showing the evil within. He held out his hand, and Buffy only hesitated a second before taking it, allowing the child to lead her to hell.

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Dean and Sam had reached the library shortly after Chloe's phone call, and had been surprised to find Giles unconscious on the floor and Ms. Calendar trying to wake him up.

Their computer science teacher filled them in on what had happened as Giles slowly came too.

"She _what_?" Dean asked, unable to believe it.

"And she knew about this prophecy?" Sam asked. "What do we do?"

"We stay calm, for beginners." Jenny announced as Giles sat up, hand to his throbbing jaw.

"Calm?" Giles snapped.

"I think she's right." Sam told the Watcher.

Giles stood on shaky legs, shaking his head. "I can't be calm. Buffy just _went to her death_!" He closed his eyes in self-disgust. "How could I have let her go?"

Dean snorted. "I think the soon-to-be-purple area of your jaw testifies to the fact that you _did not_ just let her go." He sighed. "Remember, English, she's Tarzan, you're _Jane_. There was no way you were going to be able to stop her if she'd made up her mind."

"Uh, I'm sorry to bring this up, but we also have an apocalypse to worry about?" Ms. Calendar interrupted.

"Do you _mind_?" Giles snapped at her.

"How come she's in the club?" Dean asked.

"Hey!" Jenny slammed her palms down on the table. "Once the Master gets free, the Hellmouth opens, the demons come to party, and everybody _dies_. I think _everyone_ has a right to be in 'the club' at this point!"

"I'm sorry," Giles got up and grabbed a stake and an axe. "I can't let her die. You all stay here and try find a way to help everyone in case the worst should happen."

"You don't even know where she's gone!" Sam called as Giles stalked out of the room.

"No." Giles agreed. "But Angel might."

They watched him disappear out the doors, stance determined.

There was silence before Sam got up, shaking his head, and went to the stacks.

"What are you doing?" Dean called after him.

"Research." Sam's voice came from the stacks, and there were a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence between Ms. Calendar and Dean before he returned, buried down with books. "The Master is as old as any vampire on record. There's no telling how powerful he'll be if he reaches the surface."

"Okay, here's my question." Ms. Calendar looked up at Sam. "The Hellmouth opens."

Dean snorted. "Not much of a question if you ask _me_."

She ignored him, gaze on Sam. "_Where_? If he's underground, and it's right where he is, where's it gonna open?"

"Good question." Sam acknowledged after a moment's thought. "You have a look through the Black Chronicles…" he handed her one of the books in his hands.

"Okay." She nodded, taking it and opening it.

Sam placed the rest of the books on the table and passed a specific one to Dean. "This is the Codex that Angel gave Giles. This is supposed to have all the important details about the prophecies of Slayers and the various near end of times situations. Find ours and look for a loophole or something we can work with. Something where Buffy doesn't die and Hell isn't opened."

Dean nodded, taking the book, watching his brother as he headed towards the library computer. "What are _you_ going to do? There's no internet, every communication system is down, remember?"

"I saved back issues of the Sunnydale paper and some other things to the hard drive just in case something like this happened." Sam responded. "I'm going to look through them to check for any common denominators in locations of incidents and stuff."

"Oh." Dean blinked before grinning proudly. "My brother, the paranoid geek."

"Shut up, jerk." Sam grinned, switching on the computer.

"You're such a little bitch, Sammy." Dean grinned right back, sitting down to read from the Codex.

Ms. Calendar looked up at them over the Black Chronicles and shook her head with a wry grin before returning her attention to the book in hand.

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Entering the Master's Lair, Buffy looked back when the little boy stopped at the entrance. He pointed below, gesturing her to continue on, before turning and leaving the way they'd come. The Slayer watched him go and then turned, making her way down to the floor below. She looked around the darkened cavern, wary, eyeing every shadow cast by the hundreds of candles burning everywhere.

"Welcome." The Master's voice seemed to be coming from all directions.

Buffy tightened her hold on her crossbow, eyes narrowed, trying to find the source of the voice. "Thanks for having me."

The Master stepped into the light to look at her. He was just as hideous as in the nightmares she'd had the first week of living in Sunnydale.

"You know, you really oughtta talk to your contractor." Buffy tried for bravado to mask the terror she felt as she gazed upon the creature prophesized to kill her. "Looks like you got some water damage."

"Oh _good_. The feeble banter portion of the fight. Why don't we just cut to the…"

Buffy launched a bolt in his direction, watching in horror as he readily caught in it mid-flight right in front of him at chest level. The Slayer hurriedly reloaded the bow, disturbed by just _how_ lightening fast his reflexes were. She'd never gone up against a vampire even _close_ to his magnitude.

"Nice shot." The Master sneered, throwing away the bolt. "You're not going to kill me with that thing, though."

"Don't be too sure." The Slayer snipped, aiming her crossbow at him once more.

"You don't get it, do you?" He sneered. "You're already too late. I'm stronger than I've ever been. I can open the Hell now whenever I want, I could have done so before you arrived like a sheep to the slaughter, but I wanted to wait, wanted to savor the victory of killing you before I stepped out of my prison as ruler of the new world I will create above."

"Oh _really_?" Buffy snorted, trying for disbelief, but feeling hysteria instead. "And what exactly suddenly gave you the ability to leave the place you've been trapped in for _ever_ due to your own inability to do it right the _first_ time?"

The Master sneered and stepped aside, revealing the lifeless body of Chloe lying on the ground behind him. "I had a special little snack."

Buffy's eyes widened in horror and her hold on her crossbow loosened as she gazed in horror at her best friend's dead body. "_No_."

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Sam frowned, turning off the computer, having found nothing helpful in finding a possible location for the Hellmouth. He swirled around in his seat to face Dean and Jenny Calendar, both sitting at the table studying their volumes. "Okay, let's think about this for just one minute."

Both looked up at him.

"The vampires have been appearing more and more these last couple of nights, right? They obviously know what's going to happen and they're gathering." Sam stood, pacing the room, trying to think this through like Giles would. "They know the Master's going to rise and they're here to be his army."

"Do you think they'll gather at the Hellmouth?" Jenny asked, eyes widening, pulling a strand of dark hair out of her face.

"Well," Dean frowned. "The _last_ time the Master tried to rise was the Harvest. He sent a bunch of vampires to get him fresh blood." His eyes then widened.

"Well?" Jenny asked him, eyebrow raised. "Where did that go down?"

"The _Bronze_." Sam whispered, getting what his brother just realized.

"The _DANCE_!" Dean shot up. "What better place? How could we have been so _stupid_?"

"We've got to warn them." Sam announced.

"No!" Jenny motioned for him to sit down. "Dean and I will go. _You_ are our Rupert for now. _You_ need to stay here and concentrate on demon killing." She turned to Dean. "Come on, my car's in the lot."

"Stay close together." Sam ordered as he forced himself to sit down, to grab the Codex from where Dean had left it. "And be _careful_."

"It's the _vamps_ who have to be careful." Dean announced, grabbing a stake on the way out.

Ms. Calendar paused for a second before grabbing one as well, looking at it warily as they left the library together, hurriedly, hoping that they would make it on time to warn the teenagers dancing happily at the Bronze.

Sam watched them go, worried, before shaking his head and forcing his attention on the Codex.

He had a job to do.

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"_Chloe_." Forgetting everything, Buffy dropped the crossbow on the ground and hurried past the monster, dropping to her knees next to her friend. Tears welled up in her eyes to see how pale and lifeless Chloe looked, the side of her neck ravaged, still pouring blood.

Reaching forwards she pressed her fingers to the cold skin of the side of her neck that wasn't ravaged, where Chloe's pulse should be, but there was nothing.

"_No_." Buffy whispered.

She placed her hand over Chloe's mouth and nose…and couldn't feel breath.

"_No!"_

And finally, she pressed her ear to the girl's chest, clutching her hands in her clothes when not a beat could be heard. "_NO!_" Tear flowed down her cheeks freely as she shook Chloe's body. "NO!"

She was dead.

Suddenly something grabbed her by the back of her neck, drawing her roughly up to her feet. Buffy reacted, swinging with her elbow, knocking his hand away as she tried to run, but the Master outstretched his hand towards her and she froze…unable to move a muscle.

He approached her, making slow twisting motioned with his hand, before appearing behind her. "You tried. It was noble of you." His voice dripped with condescension as he taunted her. "You heard the prophecy that I was going to break free and you came to stop me, but we both know how this ends." He paused, considering, as he trailed a finger down the curve of her neck. "I _would_ have given you an honorable death like any vampire would a Slayer…by _fang_. But I'm afraid I'm rather _full_ on your friend. It took _such_ a long time to drain her dry."

Buffy tried struggling, desperate to _kill_ him, but she couldn't move a muscle.

She then frowned.

_Dry_?

But Buffy had seen blood seeping out of the fang wounds on Chloe's neck. She'd been _sure_ of that!

"Oh well, any death will do I guess." The Master sighed, obviously a bit disappointed to end it this way, before dragging Buffy to a pool of water by the entrance. "Goodbye now." Dropping her face down into the pool he laughed.

Buffy wanted to struggle, tried to hold her breath, but she couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Her lungs burned, begging for oxygen, her vision blurred, and in her panic her heart raced desperately in her chest.

And then she began to feel tired…so tired…her lungs so _hot_…her head so fuzzy.

The last thing she saw before everything went black was the bright explosion of light as the Master's confines dissolved into nothingness and he left his lair, victorious.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the school parking lot, Jenny dug into her bag, searching for her keys, high heels tapping loudly as she and Dean headed towards her car. So many worries and thoughts were filling her mind at this moment. What if they couldn't do this? What if they couldn't stop the Apocalypse? What if the world as they knew it ended tonight?

Had she truly lived her life to its fullest? Was she ready to die?

_No._

"What if we don't get to the Bronze before they do?" Jenny asked Dean, still searching in her bag and not paying attention to much else as she voiced one of her many fears.

Dean stopped ahead of her, body going tense. "I don't think we have to worry about that anymore."

"What? Why?" Jenny looked up at that.

"Because they're not goin' to the _Bronze_." Dean tightened his hold on his stake and got into a defensive position.

Cold chills running up and down her spine, Jenny followed his gaze and gasped in horror as she saw, on the field, a _hoard_ of vampires approaching. Her gaze went across the parking lot and saw _more_ coming.

They'd never make it to her car on time.

"I can't stake all these by myself." Dean stated the obvious. "We have to get back inside and warn Sam."

They turned to head back yet stopped when they realized that even _more_ were blocking their way to the school.

Jenny gulped.

They were surrounded.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the tunnels, Angel and Giles witnessed the burning bright light as they came out of an adjoining tunnel. They both froze, turning to look at each other in horror as they realized what the light meant.

"_No_." Giles whispered, his eyes going haunted, knowing that Buffy would have never let the Master break free…were she alive.

"It's too late." Angel sighed. "He's gone up."

"_Buffy_." Giles whispered once more, in shock, in denial.

Angel was about to try and comfort the Watcher when he froze, catching the scent of blood in the air...particular blood...blood he'd hoped to never have smelt again.

His body clenched in horror as he realized that Buffy hadn't been alone with the Master.

"_Chloe_."

"_What_?" Giles gasped.

Angel broke out into a run towards the Master's lair, getting there before Giles thanks to his vampire speed and terror, not even giving the Slayer's body (floating face down in a pool of water) a second glance, his eyes flickering gold in fear as he desperately followed that scent…and finally found her.

He stopped, eyes wide, not believing it as he saw her lying on the ground, immobile.

"_Buffy!_" Giles rushed to the Slayer, pulling her out of the water. He held her close and tried to listen for breathing. "_No…no_!" He lowered Buffy's body to the ground and checked her neck. "No---no bite wound?" His eyes widened in realization. "She _drowned_."

Taking off his jacket and laying it over her, Giles knelt down by her face and looked at her for a moment, as if promising her that everything was going to be alright, before pressing his mouth to hers and blowing into her lungs. He then let go and began to pump her chest, repeating the process furiously. "Come _on_ Buffy!"

But Angel didn't process that.

He collapsed to his knees besides Chloe's body, unable to see anything else. The vampire reached for her and pulled her into his arms, her head falling lifelessly against his chest.

"_Chloe_." His voice cracked with emotion.

Freeing one hand, Angel wiped away at the blood on her neck, knowing it'd only torture him…but he wanted to see the bite that'd taken her life.

He softly rubbed the blood away…but only found unmarred, untouched skin beneath.

His eyes narrowed, confused.

If---if she hadn't been bitten---where had all the blood come from?

And then----and then he could hear the sound of her heart beginning to beat once more, and in seconds' Chloe's eyes opened and she jolted up in his arms, gasping for breath.

Angel looked down at the blonde, shocked, unable to believe what he'd just seen.

She---she'd just come back from the _dead_.

He didn't hear Buffy coughing up water and gasping for breath behind him, didn't hear Giles crying as he hugged the Slayer to him.

All Angel could hear was Chloe's steady, healthy heartbeat, the sound of her breathing, and all he could see was her looking up at in him mild confusion after a mere second's terror from her place in his arms, before she smiled up at him.

"_Hey_." Chloe whispered, eyes sparkling as she looked up at him. "It's you. It's _always_ you." She closed her eyes tiredly and leaned her head against his chest, yawning, as if she'd only been sleeping moments ago and not _dead_.

"You've got to stop getting yourself into these kinds of situations." His voice cracked with emotion as he looked down at her hungrily, so desperately happy to have her back that he didn't _care_ how this had happened. "You look _horrible_."

She laughed, and it was beautiful.

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In the school parking lot Dean tightened his hold on the stake, knowing he couldn't keep an eye on all of the advancing vampires, much less stake them all.

"Why are they coming here?" Ms. Calendar asked, having pulled her own stake from her handbag, holding it in her shaking hand.

"Not _caring_." Dean responded bluntly, trying to figure out which vampire would attack first. If he was going to die here tonight, he was going to take as many of these bastards with him…for Jesse…for _everyone_ who'd been victims of them and their evil.

A car sped towards them, breaking through the vampire circle, sending bloodsuckers flying left and right before coming to a screeching stop behind Dean and Ms. Calendar.

The window rolled down to show Cordelia Chase in the driver's seat. "What are you waiting for? Get _in_ you idiots!"

Dean didn't know what exactly Cordelia was doing there (because wasn't she supposed to be at the hospital with Chloe?) but he didn't question this sheer luck as he and Ms. Calendar rushed into the car, locking the doors behind them and making sure the windows were up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean snapped at his ex from the backseat.

He'd wanted her safe and yet here she was, defying even his _mental_ commands!

"Chloe was kidnapped from the hospital by guys with messed up faces just like these. Some guy who calls himself the Master wanted to see her or something. I thought you all would want to _know_ that." Cordelia snapped, glaring at him through the rearview mirror. "And be more grateful! I just saved your butt out there mister!"

"Oh _please. _I had a _plan_." But suddenly Dean realized what Cordelia had said. "Wait? _What_?" His heart fell to his stomach. "The Master's got Chloe?"

They all screamed as a vampire jumped on top of the car.

"What do we do?" Ms. Calendar asked.

Dean gulped, thinking fast. "Giles, Angel and Buffy went to confront the Master. Chloe will be alright. But for now, we need to get to the library. _Fast_."

"Library! Great!" Cordelia grinned somewhat wickedly, shifting gears and burning rubber as she made a fast U-turn, throwing the vampire off of the roof of her car, and heading towards the school building. The car's engine raced as she gunned it towards the doors.

Dean's eyes widened.

Ms. Calendar gave a little scream and lifted her hands in a protective gesture as they crashed through the doors and into the hall.

Cordelia, for her credit, only gave a loud giggle as she continued to shift gears, car going faster and faster, as she plowed through the hallways of Sunnydale High. They crashed through yet _another_ set of doors and skidded to a stop in front of the library.

Dean, momentarily frozen in his seat, shook it off and looked behind them, frowning as he saw the vampires running into the hall after them. "We need to get inside the library and barricade the doors _now!_"

Sam opened the doors, obviously having heard all the noise they'd made, eyes wide and on the car in disbelief.

The trio got out of the car, the females screaming, as they ran into the library. They pushed the door closed just as the vampires got there. They leaned against the door, trying to use their weight to keep it closed despite the bodies slamming into them from the other side.

"What's happening?" Sam asked, still utterly confused.

"_Guess_!" Dean snapped, back pressed against the door, eyes searching the room for something to use as a barricade.

A vampire punched through the small round window in one of the doors and grabbed at them. Dean left the others at the door and hurriedly grabbed a bookcase, carrying it back over to the doors. Cordelia grabbed a sign and started hitting the vampire's arm with it while Dean got the bookcase in place, grinning that it was the perfect height to jam in against the handles.

Sam rushed to the copier and pushed it over as well, adding more to the makeshift barricade. "Why are they coming _here_?"

They were so worried trying to keep the library doors properly barricaded that they failed to notice two very important details.

One was that a green tentacle was beginning to worm its way up through the cracks in the floor in the back of the library.

And two was that, on the roof, staring down at them through the glass skylight with an evil, fanged grin, was the Master himself.

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The four stood together in the Master's lair, Angel keeping a curious, watchful eye on Chloe, while Giles supported a weak, disoriented Buffy. Chloe hugged herself, knowing she should feel tired, knowing she should feel pain, knowing she should be _dead_.

When she'd awoken in Angel's arms she'd been terrified because she'd thought she was still with the Master, and when she'd seen Angel she'd been terrified at the thought of the Master having sired her, but then she'd realized that her heart was beating furiously with her terror and she'd calmed down, confused, wondering exactly what had happened and how she was alive.

"Easy. _Easy_." Giles chided Buffy softly as she leaned against him, very weak.

Chloe looked at the Slayer.

_She_ should be weaker than Buffy.

But she wasn't.

She was strong, stronger than she'd been before.

And she felt _different_.

When the Master had drained her dry something inside of her had snapped, breaking in two, and had flowed inside of her like a river. And now…now Chloe somehow knew she was changed, different, never to be the same again.

She hugged herself tightly.

"_How_---?" Buffy asked Chloe.

Everyone's gaze turned on her.

Chloe hugged herself _tighter_.

This was it.

She could tell them what the Master had told her.

She could confide his horrible taunt.

'_And now it's time…to free your __**daddy**__.'_

"I—I'm apparently a meteor freak." Chloe found herself saying instead, unable to get the other words past her throat. "I never told you, Buffy, but my mom was driving through Smallville the day of the meteor shower. Our van got turned over and we were buried under a pile of meteors for days until they managed to find us and get us out. Apparently it gave me strengthening, healing blood."

"_That's_ why the Master wanted you." Giles announced. "_Fascinating_."

Chloe nodded. "He drank to his full and got strong. He—he'd seen Darla before Angel staked her, so he knew it worked. He---he said the strength in it would help free him."

"The Master…" Buffy tried to push away from Giles, to stand on her own. "I need to stop him." But she would have collapsed if Giles hadn't grabbed her.

"No." The Watcher shook his head. "You're still too weak."

"I _have_ to stop him, Giles!" Buffy whispered.

Chloe gulped. "I----I think I can help you with that."

Everyone turned to look at her in confusion.

She sighed. "Magical healing blood, remember?"

Buffy made a face. "I'm not a _bloodsucker_." She'd been touchy about that ever since the nightmare world had made her a vampire for a couple of hours and she'd drained dry the nightmare version of the abusive Coach Matthews.

Chloe winced.

Would Buffy make that face if she knew _Chloe_ might be the _daughter_ of a vampire?

The blonde squared her shoulders, glaring at Buffy. "The Master was strong originally and when he drank my blood he got stronger. _You_ can hardly stand on your own. You go up against him the way you are now he'll kill you before you take a breath."

Buffy winced, seeing the truth in those words.

Chloe stepped forwards and reached for the knife hanging on Buffy's belt. Eyes never leaving the Slayer's, she brought the blade to her palm.

Buffy hesitated. "Chloe---it—it doesn't matter. He nearly _drank you dry_. He has more power in him anyway."

Chloe paused, blade pressing into her skin. "Don't ask me how I know this, maybe it's just because it's my body, but I do." She sliced a clean line across her palm, blood springing up into it immediately. "But blood freely given, is a hundred times stronger than blood taken by force. It's different, it's better, the Master---you'll be stronger. I just---I just _know_."

Angel cleared his throat and had to move away, the blood bothering his demon.

Buffy turned to look at Giles questioningly.

The Watcher nodded. "It's an ancient belief, if blood was freely given, or if a person allowed themselves to be sacrificed, then it was a hundred times stronger than if the victim was tied down and murdered. That was why in so many of the ancient cultures you will find that the sacrificial victims went freely to their deaths, even happily, believing that they would help bring better lives for their people."

"Just _drink_ it, already." Angel snapped, back to them, hand over his nose.

Buffy gulped before reaching for Chloe's now cupped hand. The Slayer looked into Chloe's eyes before smiling at her, trustingly, and drinking the metallic liquid that had accumulated there.

The Slayer made a face at the taste yet continued to drink until she finally pulled away, blinking, hand to her head. "_Whoa_."

Angel was immediately at Chloe's side, ripping the hem of his shirt to make a makeshift bandage for her hand.

Buffy grabbed onto Giles tighter, closing her eyes, before her body gave a _jerk_ and then she was standing by herself, looking around her. "_Wow_. I feel---I feel _good._ Strong---stronger." She grinned brightly. "Let's go find the Master. We have an Apocalypse to stop."

"He'll head towards the Hellmouth." Giles nodded, relieved to see the Slayer like her old self once more.

"But we don't know where that is." Angel announced.

"Um, actually," Chloe announced, concentrating in the direction of where she could feel most of the mystical upheaval. "I think I do."

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Piling up more things in front of the door, Sam looked at the back of the library when he heard something and noticed vampires trying to get in.

He pointed towards it. "They're coming in through the stacks!"

Jenny turned to Dean. "Come on!"

They both ran to the back of the library, looking around, trying to think of something to do to keep the vampires from getting in.

"The bookshelves!" Dean announced.

They lifted a bookcase against the French doors that led to the stacks and leant against it.

"Giles' office…" Sam's eyes widened, remembering the entrance there, as he hurried to secure it, leaving Cordelia alone at the main doors.

It was times like these when Sam wished he knew how to _do_ magic more than _know_ about the theory of it, as Ms. Calendar was teaching him. If he knew magic he'd be able to at least put up a protective shield around them, but _no_, he was fairly useless.

No one noticed a tentacle inching towards Jenny's leg.

Another vampire punched through the other library door window, grabbing Cordelia's arm, causing her to scream.

"Cordelia!" Dean turned towards the scream, but couldn't do anything but watch, needing to keep his weight against the bookcase to keep the vampires from getting in.

The brunette hit at the vampire's hand and when that didn't help any she bit it as hard as she could. The vampire screamed in surprise and let go, pulling his hand rapidly back out through the window to safety.

Cordelia snorted, spitting out the taste in her mouth. "See how _you_ like it!"

Dean grinned proudly, and somewhat amazed, at her.

"This won't keep 'em out for long!" Jenny grunted from where she was putting all her weight into the bookcase. She looked down in time to see the tentacle everyone had managed to miss wrap itself around her ankle, and scream loudly.

Dean turned towards her and cursed, making a grab for her, holding her back as the tentacle gave her a sharp _pull_ towards it. "SAM!"

Sam came running out of the now secured office in time to see a huge, green, multi-headed and tentacled demon burst through the floor. His eyes widened as suddenly everything _made sense_. "The Hellmouth…" He whispered, unable to believe it. "_THIS IS THE HELLMOUTH!_"

Cordelia gazed upon the demon with three heads that reached all the way to the ceiling. Her breathing grew more ragged, her eyes widened in terror, and she let out the loudest scream she ever had.

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Reaching the stairs leading to the roof of the school, Buffy could sense him now that she was close enough. The Master. It'd taken some slaying on all of their parts to get this far, the grounds completely covered with vampires, but Buffy felt stronger, more sure of herself now, and she knew that this was it.

She'd fulfilled the prophecy, she'd died.

Everything from now on was fair game.

She turned to the others. "You wait here and keep the rest of the vampires off of me."

Giles nodded.

She looked at Chloe, clasping the crossbow Buffy had used to confront the Master earlier, Giles with his axe, and Angel with his game face on. They were her only backup against a multitude of vampires…and yet she was confident that they would be enough.

"I'll be back." With that promise the Slayer headed up the stairs to the roof. Her footsteps were silent, and as she stepped onto the roof she knew that the Master not only hadn't heard her, but couldn't sense her. Not the way she could him.

He stood next to the skylight over the library, looking down, clasping his hands idly as he gazed inside at the hell breaking loose within. "Yes." He grinned. "Come forth, my child. Come into my world."

She snorted.

The _arrogance_.

"I don't think its yours just yet."

The Master turned his head and stared at her in surprise. "You're dead!"

"I may be dead," Buffy announced, hands on her hips. "But I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say about _you_."

He hissed, eyes narrowing. "You were destined to die! It was written!"

She snorted, shrugging. "What can I say? I flunked the written."

The Master growled and reached his arm out to use his hypnosis on her again. "Come here!"

Buffy tensed, waiting for the control he had over her, but then, there was nothing. She was about to taunt him with his failure when an idea came to her. She slowly approached the Master, doing her best to pretend to be hypnotized.

He grabbed her by the throat again. "Did you _really_ think you could best me here when you couldn't below?" He let go of her neck, sure of his control.

Buffy looked at him curiously. "You have fruit punch mouth."

"_What_?" The look of confusion on the Master's face was hilarious.

Smirking, Buffy swung a wide hard punch to his mouth, feeling deep satisfaction as he fell down. "_That_ was for trying to kill Chloe."

"_**Trying**_?" He asked, getting up as she did a swinging roundhouse kick that connected squarely with his face. He swiped at her and she jerked back, but he managed to slice her with his fingernails across her upper right chest, drawing blood.

"Naughty boy." Buffy chided after a quick look down to assure herself that it was only a minor scratch. "I don't go that far at _least_ until the third date!" She punched him in the kidney.

The Master retaliated by punching her in the jaw.

Grunting, Buffy tried to punch him again, but he blocked her and punched her in the face, sending her flying backwards into the wall behind her.

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Inside of the library, unaware of the fights going on outside and above them, Jenny screamed as the Hellmouth creature tried to tear her out of Dean's hold.

"_Sam!_" Dean grunted, his grip on the woman slipping.

Already going through Giles' pile of assorted weapons, Sam pulled out an axe and rushed up to the stairs to their aid.

"SAM!" Dean struggled to not let go.

Sam reached them and swung the axe into one of the heads, the creature roaring in agony as Jenny continued to scream. Sam raised the axe once more and swung again, and again, hitting the creature over and over. He tried it once more, but the creature knocked him off of the mezzanine and onto the large table below.

The table broke as he hit it, and one side fell over onto its end, leaving a huge spike pointing upwards. Sam rolled with a groan, opening his eyes when he felt something slimy dripping onto his face…only to find one of the creature's heads hovering over him while another faced Jenny and laughed.

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Up above, the Master and the Slayer continued to fight.

Picking herself back up, Buffy launched herself into a front tuck over his head and landed between him and the skylight. She kicked him in the side with a side snap kick, but he quickly turned around and grabbed her by the neck once more.

Apparently a vampire's neck fetish extended even into battle.

"Where are your jibes now?" He sneered.

Buffy looked behind her, at the battle going on below, worried about her friends inside the library, and noticed the upended table through the glass of the skylight.

She grinned, letting loose a little chuckle.

This seemed to offend him greatly. "You _laugh_ when my Hell is on Earth?"

"If you're that amped about Hell…" Buffy announced, grabbing _him_ by the neck, relishing the shock on his face. "Go there!"

Lifting him up, Buffy flipped him over herself and through the skylight's glass. She stepped aside and peered over the edge as the Master fell the distance to the ground below and was impaled on the table.

Slowly, he turned to ash until only his skeleton was left.

The Hellmouth creature below quickly disappeared back into the floor, sucked into Hell as the Mouth closed, and Buffy watched the vampires that'd been trying to enter the library begin to back away before hurrying as far from there as possible, sensing the death of their Master and terrified.

She smirked.

Apocalypse evaded.

The Slayer turned to go back towards the stairs to join Giles, Chloe and Angel so they could go inside with the rest.

Not only had she killed the Master, stopped an apocalypse, _and_ managed to _not_ get killed in the process---but Buffy had _kissed Giles_.

She grinned brightly.

All in all, tonight hadn't been a bad night at all!

With those thoughts in mind, Buffy began to whistle happily to herself as she headed down the stairs.

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**Shakes head----WOW. 60 pages, people! Love me! I deserve it! Lol… Next chapter is the LAST! AMAZING!**

**I'll try remember to address questions about a possible sequel in the next one!**

**Review?**

**Next chapter is last by the way…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, or Supernatural.**

Wanna thank Cici Linne, violent-smurf, El Neneo, Kinky1, DiscoLemonadeDiva, ChamberlinofMusic, vamp1987, Shadow Girl, Veronica, Banana Flavored Eskimo, summergirlforever, Kit Merlot, and Hikari Sakura chan for reviewing the previous chapter.

Wow, this is it peeps. The last chapter. Thanks for coming this far with me and enjoying my work!

Remember to read the notes after the chapter on some words about a sequel…

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Chloe would be leaving for Smallville in a couple of hours, but she didn't feel the elation she had when she'd first gotten the ticket. Sure, she was going to spend the spring break with her old friends (and the summer as well when it came) but while she'd been anxious to see Clark and Pete again Chloe just couldn't get over the near Apocalypse.

School had let out and everyone had gone their own way. Sam and Dean had been shipped off to bootcamp of all places by their father, who thought they were both getting out of hand, Cordelia had gone to Madrid with her family, and Buffy had just left an hour or two ago to stay with her father in L.A.

Even Giles had gone home to jolly old England to catch up with the Watcher Council and give them a detailed report about the Hellmouth opening (no matter how briefly) and what exactly had happened from an insider's point of view.

Despite the fact that she should feel alone, Chloe felt relieved. She---there were too many things on her mind, too many questions that needed answering, questions she didn't think she ever _would_ get the answers for.

The only source of answers had been staked on a broken, upturned table, his skeleton disposed of by all of them, buried on sanctified ground by the tree in the middle of the Sunnydale Cemetery.

'_Free your father…your father…'_

Vampires were _dead_.

It was _impossible_ for them to impregnate…

_Right_?

Taking in a deep, ragged breath, Chloe hugged her knees to her chest and looked down at her fingers, twirling them lazily, watching the energy crackle like sparkles around her fingertips.

Ever since the Hellmouth opened, ever since Chloe had _died_, the negative affect the Hellmouth had on her had ended. She hadn't felt the ripples beneath her, hadn't felt the nausea, hadn't felt _anything_.

She should be happy.

This was what she'd been trying to accomplish all along…

…and yet all Chloe felt was dark unease.

Something had changed inside of her that day. As if something that had been locked up had been broken open, and filled her, something that felt a part of her, and yet _not_…

It was confusing, it was _frustrating_, but it was the truth.

Chloe was always envisioning it somewhat like a seal inside of her being broken, and whatever it had been keeping within seeping out into her bones and organs, into her already freaky _blood_, and making her even _freakier_.

"Hey, I _thought_ it was you." A voice announced as Jenny Calendar slipped into the seat in front of her in the diner. "What's wrong honey? You look troubled."

Chloe somehow wasn't surprised to see her computer science teacher and mentor there. Jenny was a new addition in Chloe's life, but the blonde teenager had already grown used to her, and trusted her.

But---but she didn't think that she could trust her with this.

Chloe---Chloe needed time to herself, time away from the Hellmouth.

Smallville would do her good.

"Have you ever felt that maybe you don't know yourself as well as you'd thought?" Chloe asked, gaze on her fingers as they trailed around the mouth of her cup of coffee.

"All the time." Jenny announced, waving down a waitress and ordering something for herself before returning her attention back on Chloe. "Especially when I was your age. This is the time when you define who you are, and who you're going to be. You're going to discover many things about yourself, your desires, your potentials, and also your dreams. It's a _terrifying_ time to live through."

Chloe managed a smile at that.

"And its going to be harder on you all, especially you and Buffy; her with her destiny and you with your connection to the powers of hell itself. That's gotta mess up and confuse a girl." Jenny announced bluntly, which was one of the things Chloe liked about her. "But you have a great support system, Chloe. You have a father who loves you, friends who adore you, and you got a rocking hot computer science teacher who is always here if you need someone to talk to about _anything_ that's troubling you."

Chloe smiled even more at that, looking up at her grinning mentor. "Thanks, Jenny. You---it means a lot for me to hear that."

"Don't mention it." Jenny smiled, leaning over the table and giving Chloe's hand a supportive squeeze before letting go and sitting back. "Now, you want to tell me why you've seemed so withdrawn these last couple of days?"

The blonde frowned.

She knew she should tell someone.

She _should_.

But she wasn't ready to admit the possibility to _herself_ much less tell anyone.

"It's nothing really, just thinking about vampire stuff ever since what happened to me with the Master." Chloe paused as the waitress brought Jenny what she'd ordered, resuming once the woman was gone. "I have so many questions, but they—they kinda seem stupid to me. And Giles would probably roll his eyes at me or something so I don't…"

"Well, I'm not as versed in all of this as _Mr. Hoity-Toity Council Watcher_," Jenny announced, cutting up her stake. "But you can run by any questions with me if you want. If I know any answers I'll give them to you, and if I don't, I always have friends I could ask."

Chloe's fingers froze on their journey around the mouth of the cup. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of _course_ Chloe." Jenny shook her head as if thinking the blonde silly for thinking otherwise. "Especially if it's an intriguing question."

_Oh, this is intriguing alright!_

Chloe looked out of the window. "Is it---is it possible for a vampire and human to have a baby?"

There was silence.

Chloe turned to look at her teacher.

Jenny put down her knife and fork, observing her. "Chloe…" She began slowly. "I know you like Angel a lot, but----."

For a moment Chloe didn't know what one thing had to do with the other, and then her eyes widened and a blush covered her cheeks. "_No_! You have _so_ gotten the wrong idea! I wasn't—I don't—I'm _sixteen_!"

Jenny narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Chloe before sighing with relief and smiling. "Good. Because you're right, you _are_ only sixteen. _Way_ too young to be thinking about anything like that. First graduate from high school, then from _college_, have a _career_---_then_ think about procreation."

"I know, I know." Chloe nodded. "Since I never had my mom around, Mrs. Kent, my friend Clark's mom, gave me that speech. She----she always tried to be like a mother for me since I didn't have one of my own."

Jenny observed her silently, a little sadly.

Chloe shook her head, clearing her throat. "_So_, now that we've cleared the fact that I don't intend on having demon spawn anytime soon… _is_ it possible?"

The technopagan paused, considering. "I don't really think so. I mean, vampires are basically dead. That should mean that their sperm is as well and so it can't fertilize a female's eggs, the same with the female vampires' eggs and human sperm."

"But what if the human isn't exactly normal?"

"In what sense?" Jenny asked after chewing and swallowing, intrigued.

"Well, maybe she's a half demon, or maybe, I don't know, maybe she's a powerful witch working some seriously strong and dark mojo." Chloe tried to be as indifferent and innocent as possible as she said this.

Jenny frowned. "Well, I don't know. Magic---magic is very strong. I still find it nearly impossible Chloe. I mean, for something like that to happen, that witch must have an almost _godlike_ power."

_Or be connecting herself to an __**infernal**__ power._ Chloe ran her hand over her hair. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"_Still_, I'm intrigued. I'll ask around and maybe someone knows something that I don't?" Jenny suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Just don't use any findings with Angel. _At_ _least_ until you're old enough to vote. _Please_."

"I promise." Chloe chuckled, amused that her teacher really thought she was looking for a way to have children with the vampire whom she was almost completely sure she'd fallen in love with (and knew for a fact that he was possessive and most probably loved her back) even though they'd never really sat down and talked about it or even defined their relationship.

"Good." Jenny grinned brightly. "So, are you excited about going back to Smallville for the break?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "I'm going to miss Angel and everyone from here, but I've been missing Clark and Pete terribly, so I also can't wait to go and see them."

"I'm glad for you." Her teacher responded. "Just be careful, okay? Just because Sunnydale is a Hellmouth doesn't mean that the rest of the world is safe."

"Yes ma'am." Chloe, gaze going back to her cup, wondered if this was a conversation a mother and daughter would have. Or would it be more strained? She didn't know, she could hardly remember her mother, and knew that the woman she remembered wasn't even the woman her mother truly had been.

She tried not to feel resentful.

"It's getting dark, and you caught the bus here, right?" Jenny's voice broke into her thoughts. "Lets finish our food and then I'll drop you over to your house on the way to mine, okay?"

Chloe smiled. "Okay."

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"_I don't think that he realizes __**why**__ I kissed him_." Buffy's pout was _audible_. "_I mean, I think he thought it was the heat of the moment or thanking him for even considering dying in my stead or as an early apology for knocking him unconscious or __**something**__! I mean, he's acting like he normally does with me, just, uh, more protective."_

Chloe sat on her balcony, looking out at the sunset as it colored the sky a multitude of colors. The moment Buffy had made it to her father's home she'd called her, and Chloe was glad, she'd begun feeling lonely in her house by herself. "Well, that's a step forwards, right? And anyway, if you take things slowly, when he _does_ realize your feelings he mightn't think its just some school girl crush."

"_True."_ Buffy sighed._ "But I just don't want Ms. Calendar slithering her way into his heart before I can!"_

Chloe snorted. "Buffy, two times now Giles has nearly gone ballistic when your life was put at risk, the Mrs. Madison thingy and the prophecy thing, so I think we can safely say that you're in his heart already."

There was pleased silence.

Chloe chuckled, shaking her head, leaning against the railing of her balcony. "Just be patient with him, Buff. He's a _guy_, they're all slow anyway. We advanced females must have some compassion on them."

The Slayer giggled. "_That's true. We should be benevolent and patient with the slower sex_."

Chloe snorted and shook her head.

There was a moment's pause. "_So, talking about boys. How's Angel? Is he coming to say goodbye before you have to go?"_

While Buffy was still somewhat wary of Angel because of his being a vampire she was willing to give him a chance, not because of his soul, but because of Chloe. The Slayer had told her that she'd seen the way the vampire cared for Chloe, protected her, and it made Buffy happy and feel a little relieved because she knew that even if _she_ mightn't be able to always around to protect Chloe, Angel would be there in 'back up capacity'.

"Yeah, he told me he'd be over as soon as the sun was down." Chloe pressed her head back against the railing, looking up at the sky above. "We won't have much time to say goodbye though, since dad is coming around that time to take me to the airport."

"_Bummer_."

Chloe bit her bottom lip. "How can you be so good about all of this?"

"_About you having a very undefined yet vaguely sexy relationship with a hot souled vamp?_"

"Not only that, I mean, you know, _me_."

There was a pause.

"_You're referring to your blood._"

Chloe nodded, then remembered that Buffy couldn't see her. "Yes."

"_Is this the reason why you've been so wiggy ever since the Hellmouth opening? I've noticed, you know, and it's been bugging me but I wanted to give you time to tell me what was bothering you."_ Buffy sighed. "_I can't believe you'd think this would wig me. I mean, Chloe, you had as much choice in whatever happened to you as I had in becoming a Slayer. And YOU don't hold me being a Slayer against ME. Why should I hold whatever it is you are against you? You're still my best friend, always will be."_

Touched, Chloe wiped at her moist eyes. "Thanks Buffy." She frowned though, looking down at her fingernails, taking in a deep breath. "Buffy? As my best friend, I need you to promise me something."

"_Of course Chlo. Anything_."

Chloe closed her eyes, hand closing in a fist. "If, for any reason, I go rogue. I want you to promise you'll slay me."

There was a moment's silence.

"_What_?" Buffy snorted. "_Chloe, don't be ridiculous. Why would you go rogue?"_

Chloe squeezed her eyes tighter, and they hurt somewhat. She knew that Buffy wouldn't be able to understand, would get the fact that even if Chloe wasn't the mystical child of a Master Vampire and _helluva_ strong and _dark_ Witch, she _was_ connected to a powerful, terribly dark, and horribly _seductive_ power. And---and sometimes, especially after the Hellmouth opened, Chloe had this odd _feeling_…

She shook her head, not wanting to remember it, or think of it. She didn't want to think of the nightmares she'd been having ever since the Mouth opened and Hell, if only for a couple of minutes, was connected to earth. She didn't _want_ to remember the feel the warmth of the blood, and the cold, dark satisfaction she'd felt as her own in each image during the long, restless nights.

She just _couldn't_.

"Buffy, I---you remember my st-stories about Meteor Freaks." Chloe gulped, wondering if the meteors hadn't just mutated, or made stronger, whatever had already been wrong with her to start with. "They all go rogue, all become insane murderers."

Even though Jenny didn't believe vampire impregnating a possibility, Chloe was scared that it was.

It would explain her unexplainable connection to the Hellmouth---and her life before coming to Sunnydale. The Hellmouth gave off something that attracted baddies towards it, and she---_she_ had had a way of _always_ attracting freaks, attracting psychos. It---it all made so much sense it _scared_ her.

"_Don't say something like that!_" Buffy snapped. "_Chloe, I know you. You're not insane and you're not a murderer! You're the sweetest, most considerate person I know!"_

"Buffy…"

"_No! I will NEVER agree to a promise like that!"_ Buffy seemed angry and offended. "_You will NOT go 'rogue', none of us would let you. And—and even if you DID we'd just lock you up in the cage until we could find a way to cure you. And don't think to ask the Winchesters this because they're liable to go ballistic on you if you do. NO ONE would ever kill you Chloe, so stop being an idiot and get those thoughts out of your head."_

Chloe sighed, a little grateful and yet worried, but she shook it off. "Okay."

"_Now, stop worrying about stuff like this and just enjoy yourself, okay?_" Buffy asked, voice calming. "_I have to go now, dad's calling me._"

"Okay. I'm sorry Buffy."

"_That's okay Chlo, just, just don't let worries like that stay in your head for so long without sharing them with us, okay? You'll hurt us too, not only you_."

"Okay." She nodded, smiling softly at Buffy's genuine care. "Have a great time, Buffy."

"_You too Chloe_." And with that she hung up.

Pressing the cellular against her forehead, Chloe closed her eyes, and let out a ragged breath.

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As soon as darkness covered the face of the earth, Angel left the safety of the sewers and found Chloe sitting on her balcony. Worry filled him as he watched her, huddled against the railing, hugging herself, looking so small and defenseless. She was pale, and he knew that she didn't sleep well anymore.

Angel had found himself stealing into her room at nights and just watching over her as she tossed and turned in bed, often crying and whimpering and thrashing around as if fighting with a nightmare. He'd shake her softly, not enough to wake her, but enough to jar her out of whatever dream she was having, and he'd relax when she'd drift into a few moments of peaceful sleep.

He didn't know what was bothering her. Usually when around others Chloe had a blinding smile and was as chirpy and energetic as always, but Angel was sure that he wasn't the only one close to her who was noticing the dark bags under her eyes or the way she would sometimes just stare straight ahead of her at nothing.

And ever since she'd come back to life she was beginning to _smell_ different. It wasn't bad, it was quite attractive actually, but it just wasn't the smell he'd gotten used to associating with her. It smelt more like the Hellmouth, and he wondered if her connection with the 'Mouth was getting stronger, if _that_ was why she was smelling more like it.

It would make sense---at least concerning the nightmares. He'd never really heard of someone who had even _close_ to the amount of affinity she had with the 'Mouth, but he'd known a few who had a _tiny_ bit, and they'd said that they'd had nightmares of all the evil the Hellmouth energy had caused happen all around them.

Chloe was probably sitting front and center, watching a live gore show every night.

He frowned at the thought and at the realization that at least for now he didn't know of a way to help her.

"Hey."

Chloe looked up, smiling when she saw him as she scrambled to her feet. "_Angel_!" She threw herself into his arms and buried her face in his shirt, taking a whiff of his scent, calming instantly.

His demon growled contentedly, pleased at her reactions to him. In his carefully guarded and locked cage, Angelus stopped pacing, if only for a moment, looking out through his eyes, feeling through Angel, as the vampire tightened his hold on her, not wanting to let go.

He didn't like the thought of her being in this _Smallville,_ so far away from him while he stayed to protect the Hellmouth while the Slayer was away, but it wasn't like he could tell Chloe what to do. Angelus agreed with him on not wanting Chloe to leave, but the demon disagreed on the latter opinion. The demon whispered in his mind how he was a vampire, was so powerful many considered him a Master in his own right. The demon whispered how he could bend Chloe to his will and make her stay, make her only his.

And it was just so _tempting_.

Angel _wanted_ to actually give into his demon for the first time in a long time, just wanted to press her up against the wall and mark her as his while he thrust into her. There was potential darkness in her that called to him, called to his demon, and that promised him that she wouldn't fight if he did just that.

It was a heady knowledge, knowing that he could do whatever he wanted to her and she'd just arch up to his touch and whimper in pleasure.

The vampire shook his head, trying to dispel those thoughts, his gums itching as his fangs begged to descend, barely able to keep his face from shifting.

And he was only _holding_ her.

Clearing his throat, Angel pulled away slightly so that he could look down at her face. "How are you?"

She paused. "Tired."

At least she was being truthful.

"So, what have you done today?" He asked, leaning against the railing on his elbows, gaze devouring her face hungrily, wondering what it would be like, not seeing her for two whole weeks.

"Finished packing, talked to Buffy---Cordy sent me a text message from the airport while she was waiting on their private jet to say that I should come along next time." Chloe smiled, amused, going to lean on the railing next to him. She then frowned slightly. "Jenny—Ms. Calendar—and I were talking in the diner, we had dinner together, and she asked a question that I had no answer for."

"Ask away." This was one of the things he liked about Chloe. She was like a sponge, eager to soak in knowledge. She'd sometimes spend their time together ordering him to tell her about his life as a human and vampire, what it was like to live during the different ages, and she'd asked him to be honest, to never sugarcoat what Angelus had done.

She listened to his stories and she didn't look at him any different.

It made Angelus want her even more.

He wanted to sink his fangs into the tattoo on her shoulder blade while he took her to show exactly _which_ vampire she belonged to. And he'd find a way to make sure those fang marks stayed on her flesh, unlike Darla's and the Master's, both bite marks having faded into nothingness.

"Well, is it possible for a vampire to have a child with a human? I mean, not a _childe_, but a _child_?" Chloe asked, looking up at him intently. "And I'm not talking about just any vampire and human…say, like a Master vampire and a very powerful dark witch."

Angel made a face. "I don't think so---or, at least, I've never heard about anything like that ever happening."

"But what if it was done in here on the Hellmouth? Impossible things happen here all the time due to the concentrated, _strong_ mystical energies here." Chloe pressed, looking oddly determined.

Angel frowned, thinking about that. "Maybe." He considered the situation she'd brought to him. "It's never been done that I know of, but I guess if it were a extremely powerful Master and Witch, and if the Hellmouth magic was somehow in an upheaval at the time, or at least _very_ strong magics involved—or the Hellmouth found some use for the child—or there was a prophecy and a destiny to be fulfilled—I don't know." He ran his hand over his hair. "Really, I don't know, Chloe."

Her face fell in disappointment.

His demon growled, feeling he'd somehow let her down. "Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault. I'm---I'm just curious about the topic." Chloe shrugged, smiling up at him, but it wasn't as brilliant as it had been before. "I mean, I was thinking, imagine if _the_ Master had had a child, you know?"

He shivered at the thought. "Let's be glad he didn't. Everything he created, or everyone from his bloodline, Angelus included, were the most _evil_ bastards ever to walk the face of the earth."

Chloe flinched.

Angel was surprised.

Chloe had never seemed to be so bothered by Angelus before.

But then she moved towards him and leaned against him once more, arms around him, not seeming bothered at all with him or Angelus, which confused him, she was just merely seeking comfort.

Not exactly understanding what was going on, Angel held her close. "Are you okay, Chloe?"

_Please tell me what's going on with you_.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just _tired_." She whispered, moving in closer, looking up at her face before reaching up for his. The blonde stared up into his face before smiling a bit sadly. "I'm going to miss you when I'm in Smallville." And then she didn't give him any time to relish that knowledge as she pushed up on her tiptoes and pulled him down towards her, bringing their lips together in a searing kiss.

Angel felt his arms tighten around her, a growl of pleasure lodged in his throat as he took control of the kiss, making it deeper, more urgent, his body and soul and demon all seeming to ache and want, all in agreement of what they desired as he pushed her up against the glass of her balcony door.

Thankfully, it was strong glass.

Chloe gasped and whimpered, responding urgently to the kiss, fingers digging into his hair, massaging his skull, body arching into his touch.

The smell of her sweet arousal reached his nostrils and he snarled at her, tearing his lips from hers to nip his way hungrily down her neck, teeth still blunt, but fangs itching to descend and claim her where _everyone_ in Smallville could see and know not to touch her, that she belonged to _him_.

"_Yes_…" Chloe whimpered, breathless. "_Angel_…!"

His hands trailed possessively down the sides of her body, his thumbs sliding between the material of her pants and her skin, ready to guide the material down her curvy, tempting hips and…

A car horn beeped from the front of the house, and a car door slammed shut. "Honey! We have to leave or you'll miss your flight!"

It was fortunate that her balcony was facing the back of her house or otherwise Mr. Sullivan would have driven up to see something quite _shocking._

Chloe went stiff in Angel's arms. "My dad's here!"

_**I'm going to KILL that man when I finally get free**_! Angelus raged inside the cage. _**This is the SECOND time because of him I've been denied!**_

Angel fought against every instinct that told him to just ignore the father and take her against the glass. His whole body shook with his fight and he finally won, letting go of Chloe and taking a couple of steps back, nearly _groaning_ when he saw the flushed, completely _aroused_ expression on her face. "I should go."

Chloe was silent but nodded.

He turned to leave before growling and turning back to her, pressing her up against the glass in one last searing, _hungry_ kiss, before turning away and stepping up onto the railing and dropping down into the shadows below. He hurried as far from the blonde as he could before he lost control.

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Chloe smiled as she leaned her forehead against the window. They would be landing in Metropolis in twenty minutes, and Clark would be waiting for her at the airport to take her to Smallville.

While she _was_ happy to see Clark, _that_ wasn't the reason she smiled.

It was _Angel_.

He made her so _happy_.

Chloe sighed.

After talking to both Jenny and Angel about _that_ issue, in a roundabout way at least, she was still worried and extremely confused about the whole Master issue. Maybe she really _wasn't_ a vampire spawn, maybe he'd just taunted her so she'd 'die' in misery, maybe she just had this weird affinity with the Hellmouth----or maybe the Master had told her the truth.

But during the flight Chloe had come to a decision. She wasn't going to allow those fears to spoil her life. If something was going to happen to her, it was going to happen whether she worried about it night and day or not.

Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe she was worrying herself over _nothing_.

But even if it _were_ true, even if something _did_ happen, Chloe knew she wouldn't have to face whatever it was alone.

She had an amazing support system: a _wonderful_ group of friends who would never ever let her down, and a vampire who she loved---and knew his feelings were the same, even if he hadn't ever said the words.

Grinning brighter, Chloe blushed as she remembered the balcony incident, biting her bottom lip to silence a whimper. _God_ she loved it when Angel just let his vampire instincts control and didn't treat her as if she were fragile and could break at any second!

She'd never felt as _exhilarated_ as she had there pressed against glass and a growling, snarling, nibbling vampire.

When could they do it again?

_Oh boy…_

She was happy to be going to see Clark and Pete but…

_I can't wait to go back home!_

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**There it is everyone! The last chapter of SuperSlayerVille: Season One! I hope you enjoyed the ride!**

**IMPORTANT:**

**About "Season Two" It's almost a given that I'll write it, but it will take some time. I'd actually finished writing half of "Season One" before beginning to post it, so everyone wouldn't have to wait so long in between posts due to how long the chapters would be (have never done that before) and if/when I do "Season Two" it'll probably be the same. Also, it will be kinda different from the show, and I need to think whether I'm finishing it at "Season Two" or insane enough to go onto another season after "Season Two" is finished…and what that will mean for the Chloe/Angel(us) pairing, (ex…the pairing might change…or be modified…or stay the same) and how that will affect the ending of "Season Two". So, yeah.**

**Review?**


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